By George Ingham at the Barbican Sports Field

LOOE Town Football Club completed a remarkable revival when they clinched the St Piran League Division One East on Saturday with a game to spare.

The Sharks made certain by seeing off visiting Lifton 3-1.

The Looe Town of this season is unrecognisable from the last few years. There would be occasions when I would drag my Dad to games, and he would say, “I’ll leave when they are 4-0 down” and at half-time he’d already be at home.

Now they have a youthful winning mentality, play on a surface that’s almost level! Not so long ago I remember the pitch had a huge downhill slope, so if you were stood at the top of the hill, you couldn’t see a goal being scored at the other end, and had to rely on the roar of the opposing team.

This year Looe have climbed from near the bottom of the division to become champions.

Last season they only won five times, scored 48 goals, and conceded 93.

This season so far, they have won 22 games, scored 110 goals and only let in 26.

The new senior figure Paul Boxall is both manager and chairman and has made some key decisions that has turned a team of trundlers into energetic, strong-willed athletes.

I knew something different was on the horizon, at the start of this season, when the club introduced an entrance fee to the ground.

On hearing this my Dad joked, “Surely they should be paying me to come and watch?”

The opening of a newly-built clubhouse alongside the pitch also proved to be a catalyst for success, allowing supporters to watch the game from a much better vantage point and become more closely involved in the action.

Saturday’s victory over Lifton was a fine example of what made the team gel this season. The team was looking nervous at half-time with a score at 1-1 despite Jimi Taylor netting, but after being lifted by the manager’s words in the dressing room, they came out to win 3-1 with Philippos Kombostios and Taylor again on target.

On what he said, Boxall added: “I said boys you're a young squad, there's a bit of frustration out there today, a little bit of nerve, it's all kind of kicking in but go out there and enjoy the moment, have fun and try and win the game.”

Not only did they stay on, but they also dramatically improved and clinched the title.

This is the culmination of several years’ commitment by Paul, who is just as proud of the work that takes place off the pitch.

He concluded: “We've had success today on the field, but we do a lot of things outside the club too, because we're a part of the community.

“And so, the idea is we're not just a football club that just plays on top of the hill in Looe, we get involved with other things too, whereas four years ago nobody knew each other.

“It's changing for the right, and hopefully everyone benefits from that.”

Paul’s big challenge was to get the youth and men’s teams working together and this seems to be really working with the under 12’s and under 14’s still unbeaten.

Looe really are back on the footballing map!