When St Margaret's Old Boys won the Centenary Trophy in 2024, captain Connah and vice-captain Jake didn't lift the cup alone.
They invited Reg up with them. Reg had been part of the club since almost the beginning. He looked after welfare, first aid, and everything in between. That season, he was seriously ill. But he gave everything to be at as many games as he could.
Greg McLean, who founded the club with his dad in 2011, still has the photos and videos from that day.
"Sadly we lost Reg last year," Greg told Jordan Elgott and Rohan Anand on the latest episode of The Grassroots Hotline. "But I know that was such a proud moment for him. A culmination of so many years of effort."
That moment sits at the heart of what grassroots football actually is when you strip everything else away. The people. The relationships built over years of turning up, week in, week out, for no reason other than love of the game and love of the community around it.
Greg has been turning up for a long time. And in more roles than most people would attempt in a lifetime.
"We all had a laugh"
Greg's playing career started around the age of nine or ten. The scorelines were brutal. His team averaged roughly 10-0 defeats most weeks. At 15, he and his dad set up their own team so Greg and his schoolmates had somewhere to play. The losing continued, but over two years the gap closed from 10-0 to 2-1.
"We all enjoyed it, we all had a laugh, we didn't take ourselves too seriously," he said. "That goes back to enjoyment and the social side. We'll always have those memories."
That philosophy carried into St Margaret's Old Boys. Greg set it up after taking a job at his old school and noticing they didn't have a former students' team. His dad managed. Greg ran the admin. Reg arrived a year later.
"It was really cohesive. I'd run the admin side, my dad would run the football side, Reg would look after welfare. We built a really strong relationship over that period."
The first trophy came in 2018, a Division 2 league title. Then in 2023, under manager Andy, the club's most memorable season: the Liverpool County FA Junior Cup final, followed five days later by the League Cup final, beating the league champions 4-1 at Marine. And then, a year later, Reg lifting the Centenary Trophy with the lads he'd supported for over a decade.
"A weight lifted off my shoulders"
Alongside the football, Greg was navigating his own coming out journey. It had started with confusion in his teenage years, at a time when the school curriculum offered little help with understanding same-sex relationships.
The turning point came through his old boss at the school, Jeff, who was the first person Greg came out to.
"That one conversation made such a difference in my life. Just a weight being lifted off my shoulders, being comfortable around one person to be my authentic self."
From there, Greg told family, friends, and colleagues. But football sat differently. The question of how the team would react was always there.
"I just reached a point where I was like, right, I'm going to have to tell them. I was driving somewhere and I just pulled the car over and texted each of them individually."
What came back stopped him in his tracks.
"Messages like 'absolutely made up for you', 'absolutely no issue for us at all'. It was a bit of a shock to the system but it was really heartwarming. People's respect for me was still the same."
When the opportunity came to speak publicly as part of the Rainbow Laces campaign on Sky Sports and the BBC, Greg said yes. If sharing his story could help even one person feel safe enough to come out to their teammates, it would be worth it.
"Because of that one conversation I'd had with Jeff, I almost felt like, well, if I can share my story and help one person, that could go a really long way."
Every seat in the house
Greg's professional career in football started at Cheshire FA, on reception. He answered phones, supported safeguarding, and learned the business inside out. When COVID hit and staff were furloughed, the knowledge he'd built meant he was one of the people who kept things running. He eventually reached deputy CEO.
At the same time, he was volunteering on the committee of the Liverpool All Boys Amateur League. He took over as secretary from Alan Brown, who had held the role for nearly 50 years, and carefully earned trust before pushing for change. The members voted to rebrand as the Liverpool Football League, opening the door to female referees and future expansion.
Now Greg is CEO of the Independent Schools Football Association, overseeing football for over 360 schools and an estimated 100,000 young players. His priorities: governance, participation growth, and inclusion. The recent launch of an inclusion advisory board is already underway.
"Creating an environment that everyone wants to be a part of and feels welcome is hugely important, especially in schools."
One thing he'd change
Asked what he'd fix about grassroots football with a magic wand, Greg's answer was immediate: behaviour towards referees.
"Give them the opportunity to make mistakes in a safe environment, the same as a player giving the ball away or a striker missing a chance. They're there to enjoy their Saturday the same as everyone else."
It's a view shaped by every role he's held. But if you ask Greg what it all comes back to, it isn't the job titles or the career progression. It's the people. A dad who managed the team. A volunteer called Reg who never missed a game if he could help it. A group of teammates who texted back to say they were made up for him.
That's what grassroots football is all about.
Listen to Greg's full conversation with Jordan Elgott and Rohan Anand on The Grassroots Hotline.
