CLYDEBANK’S midnight football league returned last week with a new round of weekly events.

The new sessions started on Friday, February 2 and run every Friday afternoon until March 23 from 3.30pm to 5.30pm.

Organisers, who moved the times of the weekly sessions last year in a bid to encourage more young people to get involved, hope the pitches at Clydebank High School will again be full of boys and girls from P6 up to S3 in age.

Separate sessions are running at Argyle Park in Alexandria from 8pm to 10pm on Fridays for youths aged 12 to 18 at Argyle Park.

Jo Meiklejohn, youth outreach worker with Working4U, who run the sessions for West Dunbartonshire Council, told the Post: “The purpose of the Midnight League is to bring young people together whether they’re talented footballers or not to have a game of football against other teams.

“There’s the social aspect of meeting with friends on a Friday, the activity of playing football that brings benefits to physical and mental health, and, for those who don’t play football, the chance to watch or hang out with friends at an organised event.

“We do ask young people to pay a £1 per Friday that helps to pay for event but compared to other alternatives on a Friday we think the Midnight League is good value for money.”

Since the midnight football initiative began in 2010, more than 8,100 young people have taken part across West Dunbartonshire.