Football is somewhat in the blood for Sandbach United's new chairman, Simon Tillott.

He has played and watched football all his life, having trials with Stockport County and Manchester City to name a few.

But now the 53-year-old father-of-two has his feet firmly on the ground, guiding the impressive grassroots football club which has over 200 volunteers, nearly 1,000 players and 60 teams on to its next chapter.

Simon is looking forward to taking the club from strength to strength in his term as chairman. (Photo: Nub News)

And although Simon, who has lived in Sandbach over 20 years, has a full-time job with Nuffield Health he still manages to find time for chairman duties and coaching the under 17s boys' team, the team his son, Finlay plays for.

Football is something of a family affair for the Tillotts because not only does his son play for the club his 15-year-old daughter, Jemima Tillott, also plays for a girls' team.

"When it was suggested I applied to become chairman taking over from Peter Colclough, I asked my wife Sarah as I knew it would involve more time at the club," said Simon.

Simon's tenure as chairman lasts for three years. (Photo: Nub News)

"Fortunately my family loves the game and sport in general. I've also been involved in football. I was club captain at universioty when I was doing my degree at Staffordshire Uni."

Originally from Manchester, Simon moved to the town to be nearer his job in Stoke-on-Trent and is now at the helm of the football club, whose website is here, where he has helped out as for the past 10 years or so, joining as a parent.

He said: "We have a fantastic facility here at Hind Heath Road. We have a waiting list for players to join and it's our role to keep meeting the demands of the community which is constantly growing.

"Thousands of players use this facilitiy every week and there's nothing quite like it locally but we need to keep moving forward and growing.

"We have a vision for the future and to expand and provide even better facilities to meet that demand. We need to be ready for the future and expansion."

With this in mind, the club is holding a non-league day on March 22nd when everyone is invited to come along and enjoy the facilities.

Simon's role is to lead the club forward in all its capacities from the young teams such as the Wild Cats to the disability football program called CP United and Pan disability, the womens' teams and not forgetting the 1st team and the reserves.

The club's 1st team is in with a chance of promotion for the third year after a successful season which looks set to see them in the play-offs again.

"We have over 200 volunteers and coaches and we couldn't do this without them or our supporters. We thank them all for their amazing support and look forward to the future."

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