From programmer to pitchside: How Michael Cotter is building a football legacy

A neighbour’s complaint about his six-year-old son playing football in the street started Michael Cotter on a path he could never have imagined – but has led to him being a major player in a massive footballing enterprise, and now the holder a specialist degree from the University of South Wales (USW).

In 2008, when his lad was having a regular kick-about on the street near his home in Winstanley, Wigan, the neighbour called the police to complain.

Michael, originally from Barry Island, described how the police ‘laughed off’ the protest, but the incident highlighted a problem to Michael, now 66, about how youngsters in the area had nowhere to go to enjoy the sport, and all the benefits – such as better physical and mental health – that being involved in such a popular team endeavour could bring.

With the determination to develop a community group that could address the problem, Michael established Cherrybrook FC – named after Cherrybrook Drive, the street on which he lives - and successfully entered teams into their first competitions.

The victories for the teams were, however, bitter-sweet.

“Both my sons were involved in this, and then got scouted and picked up by professional clubs and signed for their academies, which meant that they weren’t allowed to play for Cherrybrook any longer,” Michael said.

Despite the fact his sons had moved on, under Michael’s leadership the club grew and grew – developing three more teams in the following 12 months, expanding further over the following years.

Then, in 2013, a move by the local council saw an opportunity for Cherrybrook to cement its place as a community asset.

“Around then Wigan Council was looking to save money and, through its community asset transfer scheme, we secured a 25-year lease for the club from fields at Laithwaite Park in Wigan,” Michael said.

“Then, a few years later, we put together a business plan for further development of the site, including adding more grass and all-weather pitches, and changing facilities. After meetings to discuss the plans, Wigan Council and the Football Foundation both put in £4.5 million, so the £9 million sustainable legacy facility finally, after a delay because of the pandemic, opened in 2023.”

The club is now a major community asset – with more than 1,000 players, both male and female, ranging in age from under-sixes to veterans; and almost 200 volunteer coaches with DBS, first aid, and safeguarding approval; a variety of coaching awards, including UEFA licences; and a bursary from Nike as part of its Nike Partner Club status.

Having turning Cherrybrook from a fledgling footballing endeavour into a major community asset, Michael was then offered the chance to develop his expertise further.

“As part of the partnership, Wigan Athletic in the Community provides education opportunities for people who want to be involved in football, but aren’t involved in the playing side of the game, such as BTEC, Foundation courses, and Honours degree prpgrammes,” he said.

“Because I was involved with Cherrybrook, I said I’d do the degree as well. It was a one-year course for me, because I’d had prior learning in my job as a computer programmer, I was able to jump into the third year.”

Now a graduate - Michael got First Class honours in his Community Football Coaching & Administration degree – he is full of praise for the course, and the benefits of education.

“The course was brilliant. It brought a lot of knowledge out of me that I didn’t know I had, enhanced my experience, and taught me a lot of things,” he said.

Having acquired a degree, Michael’s advice is for others to follow in his footsteps.

“Barry Island looks great now, but it was a poor place when I was growing up,” he said,

“But I knew then, that by acquiring knowledge, I’d be able to do well in life. I have always been of the mind that education makes life better, and that is something I have tried to instil in my children.

“The more you know, the more confident you are, and the more you can be put in certain circumstances and realise that the people you are dealing with are not superior to you and your opinions are valid. That’s why people should learn.”