When I was young I used to read a comic strip story in a UK boy's
comic called Paxton's Powerhouse - or similar (the first name may be
slightly different, Powerhouse is correct) - help please - what comic
was it in??!!! It was about a football team. Thank you in advance for
helping me remember a lovely part of my childhood!!!

Hello.

It seems that that the strip you remember was published in a comic
book series called "Scorcher."

"The comic was mostly devoted to strips of more or less believable
football action. "Bobby of the Blues" was along similar lines to "Roy
of the Rovers", with our good guy Bobby foiling the plots of various
bad guys. "Paxton's Powerhouse" was about an obsessive manager who
drove his players to their limits to make his team successful
(ridiculous eh??)."
http://www.ardis.co.uk/comics/scorcher.htm

According to a description on a French comic book page, the strip was
drawn by Barrie Mitchell. In the strip, "Vince Paxton" was the manager
of a club called "Delton United."  A player named Mick Darby was also
a lead character.
http://www.pimpf.org/mjm/articles/yataca/yataca.html

More about Scorcher:
http://www.26pigs.com/scorcher/index.htm

From eBay:
"SCORCHER RAN FROM 1971 TO 1984, AND WAS A POPULAR COMIC DUE TO THE
EXCITING FOOTBALL COMIC STRIP STORIES (LIKE STRIKER) AND GREAT
CHARACTERS.  GUARANTEED STILL TO THRILL AND ENTERTAIN YOU TODAY! "
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=72337&item=2261145519&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
 
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search strategy:
"paxton's powerhouse"
scorcher, paxton

I hope this helps.