AS Willington Under-15s' manager, I have already done so much more than simply coach the team.

In my six-week tenure, I have been a child psychologist, chauffeur and drinks carrier as well as boss.

But after last week, I can add another line to my CV: player!

Yes, at the grand old age of 26 years and 362 days, I made my debut for Willington Under-15s against the club's Under-14s last Friday.

As the parents present fell over themselves in their rush to excuse themselves from goalkeeping duty (step forward Clive Comby and Bob Young), it dawned on me that I would have to step into the breach.

And I am immensely proud to report that I kept a clean sheet - although it is doubtful that I will line up in net for our first game of the league season!

In the second half, I added to my burgeoning footballing CV by refereeing.

That did not pass without the odd hairy moment, however.

Early in the second half, shortly after my team scored, I was wondering why the Under-14s were waiting to restart the game.

Then, I realised: they're waiting for the referee to blow his whistle. And I'm the ref!

I think I'll stick to coaching next time!

We had only ten men - including two borrowed defenders plus me (for some reason, more than half my squad decided to miss training last week).

Even so, we won 8-0.

We had just one striker, but Nick Elliott scored four goals and gave us a formidable physical presence up front.

Our makeshift defence stood up well to what was thrown at it, although we will face stiffer tests once the league starts.

But an important element of pre-season is building confidence, and my lads' morale could only have been boosted from their conclusive victory.

Sometimes, my players have a tendency to dwell too long on the ball and indulge in too many party pieces.

There was little chance of our opponents being guilty of such sins last week.

Midway through the first half, one of their players shouted: "Come on lads, don't try anything too skillful."

I can just imagine the Real Madrid coach telling Zidane, Figo et al just the same thing!

* Wednesday saw the AGM of the Russell Foster League, and the opportunity to meet the great and the good of North-East kids' football.

In the end, I only introduced myself to a handful of rival managers, plus secretary Michael Clark.

I had hoped to take advantage of the event by arranging some friendlies; instead, I will ring round in the next few days to fix up our pre-season programme.

What I did discover, however, was our complete fixture list for the forthcoming Premier Division campaign.

We begin away to Parkside, a club based in Seaham that were promoted last season, on Sunday, September 7. Kick-off is 12.30pm. See you there!

* Apologies to Adam Nicholls, one of our skillful midfielders, who complained about the content of my column a fortnight ago.

He wasn't unhappy that I had criticised him; rather, it was the language I used that annoyed him.

"I read your article," he told me, "but I couldn't understand most of the words. And I couldn't pronounce any of them, either."

I shall try to be less loquacious next time I speak to you, Adam!

(And if you tell me what loquacious means, mate, you'll start the season in the first team!).