Barry Hopkins has taken Sinkums Football Club from depths of Herefordshire Sunday League Division Three (From Hereford Times)

Barry Hopkins has taken Hereford-based Sinkums Football Club from depths of Herefordshire Sunday League Division Three

5:26pm Wednesday 13th March 2013 in Football

SINKUMS Football Club founder Barry Hopkins has taken the club from Herefordshire Sunday League Division Three, to leaders of the Saturday Premier Division, in just seven years, writes Tom Vale.

“We’ve been successful, getting as high as you can with regards Herefordshire county and I think it’s quite an achievement,” said Hopkins, who manages the Hereford club.

“I started the club from scratch and we’ve won six leagues and ten cups in just seven years.

“We were just a little pool club called ‘Sinkums’ and I went down there, got a good bunch of lads together and set up the team, deciding to keep the name.

“Seven years later, we’ve still got several players that played for the club then, and we’re the top of the pile,” added Hopkins.

With this season their first in the Herefordshire Saturday League Premier Division, there is a potential promotion to the West Midlands League.

“If we did win this league, we would have to apply to go into the West Midlands League,” said Hopkins.

“It would certainly be something to examine but we just need to see where we are. “I don’t want to think about where we could be next year because we’ve got a long way to go this season and at the moment it’s not in our hands.

“The secret to our success has been hard work. I’m trying to make us more of a family so as we work together to achieve.

“You can see there’s fire in the belly when we play and something that seems to happen no matter who I bring in, is that we seem to attract the player that has the drive to win, whether we are losing 1-0, or winning 10-0.”

To read Tom Vale’s Big Match feature from Sinkums’ 3-2 win at Mercia Athletic last Saturday, see tomorrow’s Hereford Times.