Co-founder, manager and top scorer - meet the 23-year-old who started a club with five school friends that gained Division One promotion within two years

After playing for a number of local teams which resulted in a trial at Scottish club Ross County six years ago, Russell and a group of school friends decided they’d branch out on their own to start a club – something which had always been a discussion point.

In 2021, Castlederg United was born and since then they’ve recorded back-to-back promotions, propelling themselves from Fermanagh & Western Division Three into the top-tier while achieving cup success along the way.

Ahead of their maiden Division One campaign, Russell, who has scored 16 goals in all competitions this season, was named player-manager and has helped guide them into the IFA Junior Cup fourth round, netting six times in an 11-3 triumph over Burnfoot United last weekend.

"I played at a few local clubs throughout the years and I wasn't really enjoying myself,” he reflected. “I got fed up to be honest.

"Then Covid hit and I had a real good think about what I wanted to do and our friend group had always toyed with the idea of starting a club because at school we had a really successful team, so we wanted to get the band back together and see what we could do.

"We got most of the boys back together and started in the bottom in Division Three and are now in Division One after getting back-to-back promotions.

"It's been a good experience and something to be really proud of."

At 23, Russell might just be the youngest first-team manager in Northern Ireland – a task which you’d imagine would be made even more daunting by the fact he’d no prior coaching experience, but the former Ardstraw man has taken it all in his stride.

"It's hard managing your friends - you can't drop them!" he laughs. “They are a great bunch of lads and they understand the difficulty of what it's like to manage a team.

"We were looking for a manager and had four or five people that applied, but we just thought they weren't the right fit.

"I had never even trained a team before never mind manage, so it's a learning curve for me too.

"I'm someone who takes everything very seriously and I want things done right.

"I don't cut any corners so I told the boys I'd take it over.

"It was only meant to be part-time until we got the right fit but with the way it's going I'll probably see the season out and see where we go from there."

Starting up the club alongside Jamie Finlay, James Harpur, Brian Quinn, Jake Leitch and Adam Clarke has also helped Russell rebound from a confidence knock after his failed trial in Scotland.

"It was a good experience but at that age you take things to heart and that was one of the worst things that ever happened to me,” he said. “It was the best experience I've ever had but in terms of what happened after, I think it was one of the worst things I could have done.

"I took it really bad.

"I got injured on the trial and I thought that was my only chance and I messed it up by getting injured.

"That knocked my confidence and I was on a downward spiral for a while.

"Creating this club with five of my friends has been the best two-and-a-half years of my life and hopefully there's more to come."

Saturday’s can often be the busiest day of Russell’s week with a string of responsibilities to ensure Castlederg, who also have a reserve team, get on the pitch as they look to achieve their main objective of staying up.

"You're trying to balance everything with making sure the kits are washed, having all the equipment there, getting the team lined up, making sure players are there on time,” he added. "We started a committee and they help me out a lot.

"We have people doing lots behind the scenes like helping me wash the kits - we take it week about doing things like that. There's plenty of help.

“Saturday’s are hectic and it's tough trying to get results in this league.

"We haven't had a great start but we're only young and other teams in this league are forking out money for high-end players coming down from a higher level, whereas we're a group of school friends.

"Saturday's do be mad but results like last weekend make it all well worth it.”