Lordswood are giving youth a chance on the field and there are no barriers off it, either.

When Joe Denny found out he would be unable to play long-term because of a serious knee injury he knew he couldn’t be without football, so at the age of just 25 he’s loving the assistant manager role at Lordswood.

The Gillingham schoolteacher - who turns 26 later this month - has become a key go-between in a squad with an average age of around 20 and the rest of the management team.

Former Ebbsfleet defender Denny, who has plenty of playing experience at SCEFL level and above, has plans to play again once his knee gets fitted with an artificial ligament but in the meantime, he’s not sitting around.

He said: “I did my ACL in February and am now waiting for an operation which could be six months away and I don’t know where I would be without this (role at Lordswood) to be honest. It has been good to see how the manager deals with things and all the other management bits that I wouldn’t normally see as a player.

“The plan is to get back playing again but I am that inbetween age and I think it is good for the players, I understand both sides, it is a good link we have there.”

Denny’s last match was for Erith & Belvedere in the Southern Counties East League against Punjab United. Prior to that, he’d been at the likes of Sheppey, Phoenix Sports, Faversham, VCD Athletic, Canterbury and Herne Bay, where he enjoyed promotion success.

He was on the sidelines on Saturday to watch Lordswood pick up a point against one of his old teams, VCD.

The Wood twice took the lead, through Josh Reid and inform striker James Jeffrey, but VCD twice hit back to take a share of the spoils as the Premier Division game finished 2-2.

Denny said: “It was a bit frustrating as we didn’t play to our full potential but we got a result away from home against a team who have just got relegated from the level above.”

Next up is another team that got relegated last season, Corinthian. The game is being played tomorrow (Friday) night as part of the SCEFL Groundhop weekend - which also includes Medway sides Hollands & Blair and Rochester United and ensures there should be a sizeable crowd at Martyn Grove.

“Hopefully, it will be a big crowd and everyone gets behind us,” said the assistant boss.

“We are about giving young players an opportunity and you can see that in our style of play as well, we play very front-foot football and we have scored a lot of goals, we are exciting to watch and have young players who want to impress.

“We are hoping a good crowd comes to support the boys and we get the result against another side who have come down from step four.

“Corinthian are always a team that will get results because they always seem to have good recruitment, they work for each other, always near the top, it will be a hard game for us, but at home with our crowd I expect us to to get a result.”

Denny, who is a teacher at the Featherby Junior School in Gillingham, studied at Greenwich University for a Sports Science degree with professional football coaching and plans to add to his level 1 coaching qualification, but with aspirations of returning to the pitch in the future, he admits it’s tough watching at times.

He said: “I can say things to make a difference but can’t react on the pitch, which is the most frustrating thing, but I will get used to it!”

*GroundhopUK is an organised collective of football enthusiasts who enjoy visiting different venues, en masse. Off the back of last year’s successful ‘SCEFL Hop’ football lovers from around the country will be taking in games across the two-tier league again over the coming weekend.

Lordswood’s game against Corinthian on Friday night (7.45pm) is the first of six fixtures on the groundhoppers’ itinerary, with an early start at Rochester’s Rede Court Road kicking off Saturday’s entertainment as fans take in their SCEFL Division 1 match against Faversham Strike Force (11am kick off).

That’s followed by Faversham Town versus Hollands & Blair (3pm) and Whitstable Town against Bearsted (6.30pm) in the Premier Division and on Sunday games between Lydd and Snodland (11am) and Deal against Kennington (3pm).