The Grassroots Post

WOMEN'S

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MEN' S

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UNI

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VETS

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WALK ING

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DISABILI T Y

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SMALL-SIDED

. . . & FUTSAL!

LONDON &THEHOME COUNTIES EDITION

DECEMBER 2020

VOL . 01 ISSUE 01

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S! CORERLES! S P O T ETAB LEAGU m p45 PLU

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BET TESHANGER LADIES: A TEAM ON THE R I S E

SANDS FC: A SPECIAL CLUB

COACHES CLINIC

WELCOME TO JAM ROCK V ETS

Why I Turn Up

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Across the region, at all levels, people are getting up, getting out and turning up. We asked our cover stars why they do it.

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THE GOAL MACHINE:

THE BOX TO BOX MIDFIELDER:

THE SKIPPER:

SEHRISH, 32, COATS & GOALPOSTS, SUPER 5, EAST LONDON

ALEX , 24, LOKOMOTIV CANTERBURY, KENT COUNT Y LEAGUE

FREDDIE, 21, DC UNITED, CIT Y OF SOUTHAMPTON SUNDAY FOOTBALL LEAGUE

“Five-a-side has given me a chance to

“I play football because I love the

“I turn up to play for DC because

get back to playing football and I have

game. Since I was a kid I’ve lived and

they’re my closest friends and there's

loved every minute of it. Kicking a ball

breathed it. As I’ve grown older, I’ve

nothing better for me than playing

brings me so much joy, and it’s an

taken on more responsibility at my club

football with your mates. I know

added bonus when you’re surrounded

and taken pride in knowing that my

they've got my back through anything

by so many amazing personalities.”

work allows others to enjoy football.”

and it makes winning that bit sweeter.”

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THE ROCK AT THE BACK :

THE PLAYMAKING PIVOT:

THE CULTURED LEFT BACK :

EMMANUEL, 23, LONDON MAVERICKS, ESSEX SUNDAY CORINTHIAN LEAGUE

ALICIA, 24, READING ROYALS FUTSAL, FA WOMEN’ S SUPER SERIES

TREVOR, 46, JAMROCK VETS, WEST LONDON VETERANS LEAGUE

“I love playing grassroots because it’s

“I love how fast-paced Futsal is and that

“I do it because I have an absolute

where it all started for me. I feel very

you have to be constantly thinking and

love of the game. And the changing

connected to football through it and

moving when you're on the court. On

room banter. I’ll play for as long as

enjoy playing with my friends."

top of the game itself, my Futsal team is

the legs let me!”

like a family to me. We're such a tightknit bunch and I look forward to every single training session and match.”

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THE NO-NONSENSE REFEREE:

THE FLYING FULL-BACK :

THE INSPIRATIONAL LEADER:

HARRY, (UNDISCLOSED), OFFICIAL, WEST LONDON VETERANS LEAGUE

ADAM, 36, AYLESFORD FC VETS, KENT COUNT Y LEAGUE VETS

JEMMA , 27, BET TESHANGER LADIES, SOUTH EAST COUNTIES WOMEN’ S LEAGUE

“I like looking the part. I’ve even

“ There are so many reasons why

“Football has been the only thing keeping

brushed my hair this morning.

I love playing, but the opportunity

me going, having had chemotherapy for the

I like reffing the older lot ’cause

to hang out with my mates has to

last five years. It keeps me sane, fit and has

you get some chat off them, and

be the main one. That and it also

allowed me to make some unforgettable

you can give it straight back.

gives me good reason and

memories with some amazing girls

We’re all grown ups here.”

motivation to stay in shape.”

— long may it continue!”

TGP

HELLO What’s this all about then? Our editor Mike Backler explains...

If you’re reading this you probably play or have played. Or coach.

Or manage. Or referee. Or give up your precious time in some regard to ensure a better experience for all of the above. And good on you. You are part of something very special.

And if you don’t, we really hope we can inspire and motivate you to get involved, because you won’t regret it. Having played for close to thirty years now, I still get that buzz when I roll into an opposition car park and see the nets going up.

In an increasingly digital world, there have never been more distractions or reasons to be put off grassroots football. None more than the pandemic that sadly surrounds us. But there’s also never been a better time, in terms of inclusivity, to get involved.

Whatever your age, ability, ethnicity or gender. And though Women’s, Veterans, Small Sided and Walking football are flourishing, the Men’s game is suffering. Nationwide, issues with mental health among young men mean there’s also never been a more important time to help turn the tide on its diminishing numbers.

Of course, just like in society, there are issues within the men’s game at this level that can’t be ignored and need to be addressed.

The treatment and abuse of referees and the issues with violence need to be eradicated from the game. Not

just with lengthy bans but with rehabilitation and mental health support on both sides. Perpetrator and victim. Those who commit them need to see beyond the act and to the lasting effects that act can have on a person and their family.

Luckily, it’s a minority and the positives always, always outweigh the negatives. Effects of mental and physical health, inclusivity, community, expanding your support network, volunteering, goals! All aspects that without question lead to a happier life.

Grassroots football also offers a soft landing or a foundation for recovery for players that have fallen out of the game at higher levels and into personal difficulties. All too often we hear stories of how players have been affected. Grassroots football offers the opportunity to reconnect with the game and all those reasons that made them fall in love with it in the first place, and gave them that self esteem, without the sometimes brutal realities, pressure and complications of higher level football.

Our aim is to shine a spotlight on these positive grassroots stories and give grassroots football the coverage it deserves. We’ll start as a monthly with our focus on adult football in London and The Home Counties, just to ensure we’re not spreading ourselves too thin. But we aim to go much further, and to have dedicated and reg-

ular papers covering grassroots football in all areas of the country.

We’ll always look to cover anything below and including Tier 5 Women’s and Level 11 Men’s, along with Futsal (which I was rightly informed is its own sport!). Now I know there are volunteers and players who play or give up their time for free above those levels, especially on the Women’s side of the game, but this gives us a clear distinction for covering amateur football. Because at this level, it’s purely for the love of it. It has to be. You pay your money and dedicate your time to be a part of it.

This means that within those parameters there are over 650,000 registered adult players in London and across the Home Counties competing in those forms of the game.

Add another 100,000 volunteers in non-playing roles at clubs and leagues. What this amounts to is that every week, something equivalent to the populations of Portsmouth, Brighton and Southampton combined are kitting up, lacing up, wearing their club or league colours, and descending on green open spaces, sports centres and all weather pitches across the South East.

It’s seismic. It’s a movement that shakes the region. And after a month without, it’s incredibly exciting that grassroots is back again. Let’s have a look at what’s been going on so far... TGP

NORWEGIAN JONE SAMUELSEN ONCE SCORED A HEADER FROM 63 YARDS OUT.

A RECORD BREAKING, HEAD SPINNING NUMBER, SURE. BUT NOT A LIFESAVING ONE. We’re CALM and we’re leading a movement against suicide. If you’re finding life tough, our number is:

0800 58 58 58 We’re open 5pm-midnight every day

Number hungry? CALM is a registered charity no. 1110621 (England & Wales) and SC044347 (Scotland).

This interesting number was taken from guinnessworldrecords.com.

FUNDING

In t e r v ie w : Dav id Hillie r @ dhillierwrites

STATEOFPLAY:

FOOTBALLFOUNDATION

What are the Premier League, The FA and the Government doing for grassroots football?

THE GRASSROOTS POST: Hey Rory, the Football Foundation is celebrating its twentieth anniversary and you’ve been with them fifteen years. What has changed in this time?

RORY CARROLL: The profile of the grassroots game has massively increased. It was a niche issue before but we’ve raised its importance and profile within Westminster, Whitehall and the media. I think there’s now a real concept of the power of football.

When we build a facility, it’s not just somewhere to play the national game: it’s a place where people can improve their physical fitness, their mental wellbeing, develop lifelong friends and improve their communication skills and self-esteem.

And you’ve had some big news to share recently?

Yes. Another major change has just taken place that will transform the landscape of grassroots football over the next decade. We’ve just completed a bespoke Local Football Facility Plan for all 318 local authority areas across England. These plans were drawn up with local clubs, councils and County FAs. They set out exactly what pitches an area needs to cater for football there. So for the first time ever, we have a roadmap to deliver the quality football facilities our grassroots game deserves across the entire country.

It’s a question often asked. The Football Foundation is where the three combine in a bid to transform grassroots football in this country.

2020 has seen the Football Foundation celebrate twenty years of success and £1.3 billion of investment in new pitches, pavilions and gleaming new goalposts, as well as the announcement of a detailed roadmap to giving the country the infrastructure it deserves.

Every community in England now has a bespoke plan, outlining the facilities they need.

We caught up with Rory Carroll, their Head of Communications, to discuss how they have, quite literally, changed the game.

The women’s game has come on several leaps and bounds in this time, hasn’t it?

For a while now the women’s game has been the fastest growing participatory sport in

7 the country and we’re providing the infrastructure for that. We’re seeing the fruits of that labour at a higher level, too, with the success of the England Women’s team.

Below: The new £14m facility at Gunnersbury Park, London

What’s driving this? Is it societal or has the game itself changed?

It’s never just one thing, but stigma is being broken down. We’ve worked with [former England Women’s international] Rachel Yankey several times. As a youngster she would have to dress up as a boy to be able to play football! Thankfully, those stereotypes are disappearing and it’s not just a ‘man’s game’ anymore: it’s everyone’s game. Society has also changed for the better, but there’s still work to do.

The Football Foundation is a partnership of sporting and political powerhouses: the Premier League, The FA, the Government, Sport England. How do you keep everyone happy?

It works because it’s a partnership. I think it’s unique in the world and it’s invaluable: the top league, football’s governing body, the government plus Sport England, literally sitting round the same table for the good of the game.

How has the Football Foundation been helping teams during the coronavirus pandemic?

We put out a Pitch Preparation Fund during the first lockdown [£7 million was granted to 2,902 clubs and organisations]. Pitches had become unplayable due to the social isolation and they are the one fundamental thing you need, so the partners came together and provided that pot of money. We then followed that with a Club Preparation Fund that enabled clubs to ensure their facilities were pandemic-safe.

The Football Foundation has given out over £1.3 billion to community sport projects. What advice would you give to a football club or team manager who wants to apply for a grant?

I’d direct them to the website - https://footballfoundation.org.uk/. There’s loads of helpful guidance and small grants availa-

FOOTBALL FOUNDATION STATS TOP: UK-wide BELOW: London & South East

There’s going to be a full multi-level sports centre, eleven-a-side, nine-a-side and seven-a-side pitches, all-weather pitches, cricket pitches, tennis courts, cafe, training rooms. The all-weather pitches have been open about a year but finishing touches to the sports hall are being done as we speak.

That sounds like a real legacy project.

It is, but there have been projects all over the country in our twenty years. We’ve done 1,200 pavilions, approaching 1,000 floodlit all weather pitches, 6,000 natural pitches. We are having to address many decades of neglect, but from 2000 onwards there’s been such a huge change.

How would you compare the grassroots game here to other European countries?

The biggest difference is that those countries have federal systems. Local government tends to look after them but we don’t have the same sort of system here. There isn’t the same need for a Football Foundation.

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ble for refurbishment like showers or goalposts, right up to larger projects. We’ve also created the Groundskeeping Community on there. It’s like a Facebook for volunteer groundskeepers, where you find guidance from your peers. It’s so important to have Putting COVID-19 aside, can you give us good surfaces and once you go into Novem- any insider tips about the future of UK ber onwards things can get difficult. grassroots football?

With an ageing population I think we’re goHave you seen any trends in ing to see a big growth in walking football, grant applications? with retirement-age women taking it up too.

We saw a spike after putting out the Pitch Preparation and Club Preparation Fund. Finally, what do you most enjoy about Maybe it was new people coming into the working for the Football Foundation? game. Maybe they had been a bit put off be- Definitely the most rewarding thing is fore…or maybe they just had more time on speaking to people about the difference it’s their hands! made and the changes they’ve made in turn.

I also think this country deserves a huge Are there any projects you’re amount of credit for the delivery of comreally proud of? munity schemes through football. They are There’s a new facility at Gunnersbury Park rocketing, and the breadth and sophistica[the Gunnersbury Sports Hub] which is a tion of their scale is astonishing. TGP goalie’s kick from Brentford’s new stadium.

We’ve contributed £4 million of a £14 million total project cost and are working close- To find out about the plan in your local area, go ly with Ealing and Hounslow Councils on it. to https://footballfoundation.org.uk/local-plans.

SANDS UNITEDFC David Hillier is in Sussex where a team united by grief have grown to become one of the most important grassroots clubs in the country.

League: S us s ex S unday F ootball L e ag ue

MENS

Sands United emerged from the shadow of grief after founder Rob Allen’s daughter Niamh was stillborn in 2017. Vowing to honour her memory, Rob organised a charity match at Northampton FC’s ground on the 23rd of May 2018 with proceeds going to Sands, the UK bereavement charity.

Following the game, Rob set up a team for bereaved male relatives of stillborn children to play in Northampton’s Nene Valley League. Two seasons later, buoyed by wide media coverage including a spot in the BBC One documentary Football, Prince William and Our Mental Health, there are now thirty Sands teams across the UK. The Grassroots Post attended a pre-season friendly of their Brighton & Hove squad unsure of what to expect – 2,958 stillbirths were recorded in the UK during 2018 with The Lancet blaming these untimely deaths for an “epidemic of grief”. Different studies have suggested that men can feel that their own grief is marginalised in comparison to the mothers and are liable to resort to compensatory behaviours like alcohol use. Could a team with sadness in its veins ever match the bustle and banter of your average Sunday League team?

Whatever football you play – 11s, 5s, 6s, futsal, youth, vets – a WhatsApp group is now part of the team’s architecture. It’s where a perpetually optimistic manager can post directions and pleas for forgotten subs, plus the odd opposition scouting report. More often than not, these groups become a haven of football chat, fantasy league predictions, occasional NSFW memes and a safe space to dig out your striker for Words : Dav id Hillie r @ dhillierwrites

P h o t o g ra p h y : A s hle y L aure nc e @ timeforheroes

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Above: Sands United work the channels at Waterhall Playing Fields, just outside Brighton

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giving an injury-time penalty the full Baggio-in-Pasadena treatment.

Sands United are no different and have a fizzing football banter group that acts as mobile pub and changing room. Uniquely they also have two more – one for male support and a PAL (Pregnancy After Loss) group where team members who are expecting what the club call ‘rainbow babies’ – a child after a stillborn – can talk about their experiences without fear of triggering other team members.

“The support group exists to help men with their mental health,” says manager Andy Lindley, thirty-nine, on the blowy Waterfall sports ground just outside of Brighton, as a herd of cows ignore us from the hill above.

“Obviously within that there will be grief and bereavement.” Thirty out of the forty-nine men in the current Brighton & Hove squad are fathers to a stillborn child. Although numbers are now so big that Andy is limiting members to men affected by baby loss, anyone has been welcome to join the squad until now. The kicker? They must be fully aware and sensitive to the team’s raison d’être.

“We’re a support network first and foremost – football is the conduit. It allows us to have that boyish banter and toilet humour, then instantly switch to being supportive,” he says, qualifying that the WhatsApp groups are not run by professionals or a therapy substitute. “Men are

very solution-focused but it’s not necessarily about getting a solution – it’s letting people know they’ve been heard and that they’re not alone. Sometimes we’ll just send them the blue and orange emojis – our club colours – to let people know they’ve been heard.”

Andy has the bearish physique that the uncouth might term cuddly. Multi-coloured tattoos line his limbs, with a huge Robocop in an ace of spades decorating almost the entirety of a lower left leg that is comfortably twice the circumference of your reporter’s arm. We’re in the court of toxic stereotypes here, but it’s hard not to register surprise when a man of this stature talks with such emotional candour.

This seems especially true when discussing ‘angelversaries’. These are the death anniversaries of the players’ children and, in the period leading to these difficult dates, men will be offered extra support. With the father’s blessing they might dedicate a match to that child and beforehand hold a minute’s silence which the opposition team is invited to take part in.

“It’s not a religious thing,” Andy says, in reference to denoting their children as angels.

“It’s that we like to think our babies are up there looking after us like angels do. We’ve had tears in that minute’s silence before.”

We talk to Tim Holt, fifty, the vice-captain who has returned gleaming from Cyprus and bears resemblance to a non-threaten-

'‘THERESULTISATEAMSPIRITPROBABLYUNLIKEYOURAVERAGEGRASSROOTSTEAM’' ing Craig Bellamy. He gave up football when he was thirty after snapping his ACL but has been caning the Joe Wicks workouts during lockdown to ensure he’s as fit as possible for the season ahead (it tells: during the game he is zipping, Bellamy-esque, around men at least a decade younger than him).

His son Caspar died in 2009 whilst many in the team are at the start of their journey. “I’m eleven years down the road so I feel like a bit of a father figure,” he says. “Guys post on the [WhatsApp] support group and I’m brutally honest with them. I don’t give advice because everyone is different but I tell them what I’ve done. It’s a vehicle for people to help each other but no one will pester anyone, asking you to open up.”

The result is a team spirit probably unlike your average grassroots team: “The bond with everyone is so strong, and not just with the bereaved fathers. The non-bereaved are

Left: Vice Captain, Tim Holt

just as supportive,” he says, before bounding off to join the warm-up.

Tim isn’t the oldest player in the squad: that honour goes to Darren Silverson, fifty-five.

He’s nicknamed Grandad but the moniker is more than an affectionate dig – his son and son-in-law are both Sands United players after losing children. Like everyone, their names are stitched onto his team jersey. Eva-Rose and Baby Smith. It is a simple yet profound way of reminding everyone why they’re here and, perhaps more importantly, demystifying these terribly sad deaths that often remain undiscussed outside of family walls.

Like Tim, he says that the team’s been trying really hard in pre-season after coming second from bottom last year. He also espouses their togetherness: “The camaraderie is immense – the team spirit. The banter,” he tells us before being called away to join the game in the second half.

There are so many players that two games take place simultaneously between Sands United and The View, who are described as their buddy club. They’ve played one full season yet team membership has grown from zero to forty-nine men, and watching it bloom throughout has been manager Andy’s wife, Leah, thirty-nine. She tells The Grassroots Post that the wives and partners have their own WhatsApp support group and that there’s a humming family community around the team.

She credits Sands with having a transformative impact on Andy, who had difficulty coping after the death of their son Dexter. He didn’t tell people the true amount of children they'd had, preferring to say two (the number now) rather than three to save an awkward conversation. “We talk about Dexter freely now,” she says, wearing a jacket with ‘Playing For Dexter’ sewn on the back. “It’s broken the silence.”

The two games wrap up (The View win both: 12-1 and 5-0) and an ominously autumnal wind wheezes across the park. Grins and laughs abound despite the weighty defeats and they could be any team in the land, albeit with a uniting difference.

“They have all the banter and everything, but everyone just really gets on and is considerate of other people’s feelings,” Leah tells us.“There’s people on the team we’ll be friends with for life. It’s sad that it’s taken tragedy to get here but we’re grateful that we’ve got each other.” TGP

THISYOU?

We’ve all played with these grassroots legends.

Which one are you?

3. The One Who “ Had Trials, You Know ?”

Reckon they trained with Rio Ferdinand when he was fourteen. “Nutmegged him once. No one was filming it, like, but if you ever meet him, you ask him if he remembers Bazza Sloane - he’ll tell ya!” Of course he will, mate. He sure will.

1. The Perennial Goalkeeper They ’ve made their own wrap-around Edgar Davids glasses with elastic bands. They ’re rocking Adidas Fingersaves, which they are adamant were the very peak of goalie glove engineering.

They spend most of the game on the deck - they love the smell of synthetic soil beads on a 4G pitch.

They ’re different, but they ’re the reason your team wins every week, and we salute them.

4. The Tactician Tries to impose their latest tactical masterplan upon the team every week. Flip-flops between Rinus Michels’ Total Football and Helenio Herrera’s Catenaccio depending on which managerial biographical documentary they ’ve watched that particular weekend. Worships at the church of Marcelo Bielsa. Coached their kids’ school team to unprecedented successive relegations.

6. “ Shape!!!”

If you’re that one player who screams “shape!” at your teammates every time you lose the ball, you know exactly who you are, and we’re going to ask you to stop doing that, please. Just stop it.

2. The Full Back At the highest level of football in 2020, full backs are the most accomplished players on the pitch. But not at this level. If you can run 1500m without requiring medical attention, and you’ve seen a ball before, you’re a full back. Never had a bad game, never had a great game - a solid, solid person. Easily the most trustworthy person in your friendship group.

League: A LL O F T H E M , E VERYW HERE

Words : A ndre w M ar tin @ ajmartin90

Illu s t ra t io n s : M illie C he s te rs @ millie chesters

11. The Prodigy They ’re far too good for your team. You’re well aware they ’re going to be with you for half a season, tops. You give them the ball at every opportunity and just watch them do the rest, savouring every moment, and wondering how you’re going to tell these stories to your mates when you’re watching the prodigy taking the FA Cup Final by the scruff of the neck in five years’ time.

8. The Forty-Five-Year-Old

9. The Target Striker

All footballers of this age are technically sound. It’s a thing. They ’re simply not caught on the ball. They go to sleep on the last day of their forty-fourth year, unaware that they have surrendered possession of a football for the last time. Unaware that all their technical deficiencies are about to leave their body like breath escaping their lungs. They wake up in the morning, have an extra large birthday coffee, and that’s it - they ’re transformed, destined to spend the rest of their days popping the ball off to their younger teammates to finish chances, occasionally nutmegging enthusiastic young wingers. It could be their last touch, and like hell will it all end with them giving the ball away.

Being a striker is not all about scoring goals.

Sometimes it’s about picking the biggest defender you can find, sticking to them like glue, and wrestling with them for ninety minutes like rutting stags. Winner claims the penalty area as their territory, because that’s how nature works, and football is in your nature.

5. The Rugby Convert Maximum effort. Maximum communication. Minimal ability. The sort who will literally hospitalise you, and then buy you a pint and ruffle your hair. “ You’ll get me next time,” they say. And you will.

7. The Ringer Nobody really knows who the ringer is, or where they came from. They claim to be a work colleague of ‘Johnny ’ or ‘Jenny .’ There is no Johnny or Jenny. The ringer doesn’t show up for post-game pints. Rumour spreads that the ringer is something more suspect. Why else would someone refuse a post-match pint, unless they were hiding their identity?

10. The Hipster Shirt: Marseille, 1993 / Shorts: Rayo Vallecano, 2001 / Socks: Fiorentina, 1999 / Boots: Diadora Baggio, ‘03 / Ability: Basingstoke Under 10s, 1982. TGP

' BEINGASTRIKERISNOT ALLABOUTSCORINGGOALS. SOMETIMESIT’SABOUT PICKINGTHEBIGGEST DEFENDERYOUCANFIND, STICKINGTOTHEMLIKE GLUE,&WRESTLINGWITH THEMFORNINETYMINUTES LIKERUTTINGSTAGS.'

SMALLSIDED:POWERLEAGUE

SMALLSIDED:POWERLEAGUE

SMALLSIDED:POWERLEAGUE

SMALLSIDED:POWERLEAGUE

WOMEN'S

League: S upe r 5 L e ag ue, E as t L ondon

W o r d s & Im a g e s : S ehris h M umtaz @ s mumtaz 14

Falling In Love, Again Sehrish tells us why dusting off her boots to play in the Super 5 League was one of the best decisions she ever made.

One afternoon, I heard through some work contacts about a women’s football team starting in Hackney, and I thought to myself: this could be the time to get the ball back at my feet.

Football was my first love. I was five years old when I got an airflow football from Santa. I kicked it around all evening and every evening for the next week, until my mum was forced to hide it from me to get me to bed.

That was the start of my love affair.

I come from a Pakistani heritage where football wasn’t the best-known sport; cricket and hockey, on the other hand, they could talk about for days on end. My family wasn’t sporty, particularly as my mum never really considered sports as something girls could take part in. She didn’t know she could take me to sports clubs or places where I could play, so I learnt my trade in the back garden with my younger brother and on the green with the local kids. It wasn’t until I got to secondary school that my PE teacher recognised my potential and asked me to play for the school football club. And then, in my late teens, I also started coaching.

Eventually, football took over my life: I was coaching at The FA Girls’ Centre of Excellence, I was playing on weekends, watching Liverpool FC matches religiously and even working for my County FA. Every moment of my day was filled with football and I loved it.

However, it all changed when I moved away from Derby to London for my dream job at The FA. I was in a big, new city, and I felt out of place for the first few months with no family and friends around. I poured all my energy into doing well at my demanding job. This steadily became a chore, and I suddenly wanted to forget about football in my spare time. I stopped playing altogether.

Years went by without joining a team, and the more I held a football in my hands for photoshoots or filming for work, the more I began to want it at my feet. So one day, I decided to turn up to the other side of London at Mabley Green in Hackney, and see what would happen. I was very conscious of the fact that I’d be one of the older players, but I soon realised that on the pitch, age didn’t matter because I was having fun again.

It was the best decision I made. It’s given me a chance to get back to playing football and I have loved every minute of it. Kicking a ball brings me so much joy, and it’s an

added bonus when you’re surrounded by so many amazing personalities. Playing football when I was younger was restricted to only being good on the pitch, but now it’s much more open and expressive both on and off it.

We feel encouraged to have a voice in the community to bring people together and it’s allowed us to become more creative with what we can do on social media.

I’ve worked in grassroots football for a long time and seen the growth of the women’s game, but the sheer number of teams in the Super 5 League took me aback.

It’s been brilliant to know that there are so many incredible teams to play against: something you can’t take for granted in women’s five-a-side!

I now have a place to go where I can feel that thrill of kicking a ball again with a group of wonderful people who have become my little family. I didn’t know that this was the missing piece in my life until I found it.

I can say for certain that until my knees give way, I won’t be letting it go anytime soon. My team, Coats and Goalposts, is my home away from home. TGP

League: S upe r 5 L e ag ue, E as t L ondon

W o r d s & Im a g e s : C harlotte Duk e s @ duke ofhaz zard

W e b s it e :

In s t a g ra m : @super5league

super5league.com

F a c e b o o k : @super5league

Super 5 Proudly awarded The FA Grassroots Football League of the Year in 2019 & 2020, Super 5 League plays host to 48 teams across 6 divisions & is a place where women & non-binary people of all levels are welcome.

If you walk past Hackney’s Mabley Green on a weekday evening, you’ll witness a rare sight: four whole pitches solely occupied by women’s football teams. Now one of the biggest women’s footballing communities in the country, the story of the Super 5 League commenced in 2017 as the brainchild of Shahid Malji, who’d been approached by women in the community to provide the space and organisation for grassroots teams in Hackney. The league kicked off

with a group of five local teams, and from that moment onwards, the Super 5 League has grown substantially, with forty-eight teams from all over London signed up for the Winter 2020 season.

Super 5’s popularity is embedded in the way it runs as a unique offering in women’s football. One of the fundamental elements of Super 5 League is its commitment to the spirit of grassroots football, where etiquette is favoured over results and where teams support each other, both on and off the pitch. As Sam North from Grassroots team South East Rangers notes, grassroots football is ‘a great way to keep in contact with mates, and a super relief from real life’. Likewise, Abi Ticehurst from S4K FC & Berks County Ladies observes that football is the sole time she can ‘press the pause button on the madness of the world, more so than ever this year, and just do something purely for my own pleasure’. At Super 5 League, we aim to support many of the players who lost touch or perhaps fell out of love with football over the years, and we are keen to become known as one of the most inclusive footballing communities in London. Capturing why they decided to opt for the Super 5 League, one of our new teams this season, Ex Girlfriend FC, told us: ‘We were super excited when a spot came up in the new beginners league and jumped at the opportunity to get involved. It's got a reputation as one of the top grassroots leagues in East London, and where else can you get sweaty with a bunch of wom-

xn in 2020? But seriously, the community spirit is next-level and we've had the warmest welcome from the organisers, refs, and other teams. We can't wait to get back on that pitch!’

Further, Super 5 is an opportunity for women from all walks of life to connect up and advocate for causes they believe in. As founder Shahid remarks, ‘So much has come out the league. It’s not just football’. Super 5 team Brockwell United recently ran a fundraiser for the Housing for Women charity and Todo Ciuidad ran a ‘todo tour’ for Shelter From the Storm, London’s free homeless shelter, demonstrating that the community within the league extends far beyond the final whistle. The Super 5 League itself is actively fundraising for Girls of Golden Youth, the creation of a women’s footballing academy in Gambia. This emphasises the massive potential that grassroots football has in shifting and moulding the narrative of the women’s game and in the communities they operate within, which Super 5 League looks to support wherever it can.

We’re pleased to be growing, reaching new parts of London and surrounding areas as a league. For 2021, we are working on the launch of a girls’ league too, following the success of our women's offering.

Football is more than a game at Super 5, it’s a movement, and we're very proud to be leading the charge.

TGP

21

SMALL-SIDED

League: G oals 5 -a-S ide L e ag ue s , E ltham

TALKING

WITH

Words : O llie G oodw in @ ollie – good y y

Im a g e s : M organ A llan @ morganallann

GOALS

SEDONS

South East Dons are one of YouTube's biggest football teams. For those of you who haven't heard of them, you probably should have. The Dons have 185,000 followers on YouTube and a considerable social media presence. I discovered the Dons when they were a lot smaller, in the old school days, when they were playing on a variety of dodgy pitches in and around Peckham. Things are pretty different now - most of the squad are non-league players and the Dons count the likes of Declan Rice and Stormzy among their fanbase. The club's rise is impressive and they are a team I've always kept an eye on; so, when the opportunity came about to go see the Dons, it wasn't something I was going to miss.

I was meeting them at Goals in Eltham. Goals have almost forty-three centres across the UK and they are quality. Local meccas of five-a-side, each centre is home to multiple small sided pitches and, walking through the caged thoroughfare, it feels like you’re in FIFA Street. As we arrived on a cold, dark Wednesday night, we were hit by the smell of football: a heady combination of sweat, Lucozade and those little black beads drifted through the South London air. Across the pitches (each named after various famous stadia) there was a proper mix of young and old, all arriving to kick a ball about.

Exciting games were already underway, but we were here for one reason: to see the Dons.

Crooks is the Dons’ five-a-side man. He’s been around since 2014 and has seen the Dons go through their rise to the top of YouTube football. He told me a bit about their involvement with Goals.

“We’ve been coming here for two years now. It’s really great. We don’t train so this stuff really helps keep the lads’ fitness levels up.”

Everyone knows each other at Goals Eltham. Most teams were

seen mingling and having a chat after their games. It seems like a pretty social space and, with everything going on at the moment, it was nice to see people just having a laugh with their mates. The Dons seem well-liked by the locals.

“Goals is a huge part of the community. We love it here.

Everyone knows us, other teams stay and watch. We’re going to go global!” This is Big G, the Dons’ eleven-a-side keeper and parttime five-a-side enforcer. If you have seen any of the Dons’ online content, you have seen Big G. He is, quite literally, hard to miss, and with several Soccer AM appearances between the sticks under his belt, he’s a pretty big part of the Dons.

Tonight, the Dons are playing at the Eltham Goals’ version of the Camp Nou against a well-organised No Caps FC. The game starts in fairly scrappy fashion, but the Dons’ quality shines through in the end and they run out deserved winners, 7-3 on the night. But even if the cameras and the custom kits weren’t there, I reckon all the Dons would still be rocking up to Goals every week, looking to get involved with some five-a-side. TGP

25

GOALS

D e v e lo p m e n t : L iam P alme r S c hool of E x c elle nc e

In t e r v ie w : Dav id Hillie r @ dhillierwrites

SHEFFIELDWEDNESDAY'S

LIAMPALMER

One-club players are a rarity in football, whatever level you’re playing at. Other than a loan spell at Tranmere Rovers, Scotland international defender Liam Palmer has spent his entire career at Sheffield Wednesday. The boyhood Owls fan subverts the classic (some might say outdated) footballer trope in other ways, too – opening his own Palmer School of Excellence (PSOE) at Goals Sheffield, which programmes weekly sessions and holiday camps for five- to twelve-year-olds. The Grassroots Post called Liam on his way back from their half-term holiday camp to chat pushy parents and educating kids beyond the pitch.

26

W e b s it e :

In s t a g ra m :

Facebook :

palmerschoolofexcellence.com

@palmerschoolofexcellence

@PalmerSchoolOfExcellence

TGP: Hey Liam, how did it go today?

LP: It was really good – I try to get down whenever there’s a camp or event. Afterwards we did a Q&A with the kids.

Did you get any awkward questions?

No, thankfully! They’re pretty good and the coaches brief them to not ask about what I earn, what car I drive or whatever.

What inspired you to start the Palmer School of Excellence?

I got picked up at a summer holiday Sheffield Wednesday football camp in Worksop when I was six or seven years old. I didn’t expect to get scouted but the guy running the camp eventually took me to the academy. So I was keen to give that opportunity back.

How did the Goals partnership come about?

Well they’ve got the ideal setup, with all weather pitches and indoor facilities. They look after the admin side which is perfect for me as I’m still working as a professional footballer!

What does the PSOE currently provide and what are the ambitions?

At the moment, it’s the school holiday training camps and weekly sessions for five- to twelve-yearolds. And we organised a grassroots

tournament for over twenty-five teams. But the plan is to expand eventually into older age groups, maybe work with players that have dropped out of academies, retraining them or giving them a pathway to other things.

What separates you from the other grassroots football schools and academies?

The one difference I wanted to make was the education side. At the holiday camps we have kids between 09:00 and 15:00 and we’ve also introduced workshops: stuff like first aid or a workshop from Kick It Out. Hopefully they can go away with a bit more confidence or knowledge.

ways a challenge: they have to contend with a lot and they need more encouragement. Also, the parents’ involvement…sometimes they need to learn to not take it so seriously! Everyone develops at a different time. It’s important for the kids to have freedom of expression and not have people on their back if they don’t have the best game.

We couldn’t agree more! Are you still involved with grassroots football outside of the School of Excellence?

Yeah, I’ve got lots of family and friends who play and I’m always down at my local pitches in Worksop watching them. You get some real characters who have given their lives to it. It helps me see the You have worked in the past with game from a different perspective Show Racism the Red Card at and it’s almost a relief to watch Sheffield Wednesday, haven’t you? some real football after being in the Yeah, we’ve had a number of work- professional game so long! shops with hundreds of kids from different ethnic backgrounds and Your son is now playing, isn’t he? schools. So many people don’t feel Yeah, he’s six years old. That was comfortable reporting or talking the other reason behind the school about racism and it’s opening up – he was starting his football jourthe lines of communication. Rac- ney and I wanted him to go to an ism is still massive in today’s game environment where he’d get the but the statistic I look at is the in- right education. I’m at his games creasing number of cases being every weekend and love watchreported. That’s really positive. ing how he develops. He learns so many life skills. I have my deckWhat challenges do you chair on the side with a flask, big think face grassroots football hat and get to just be a parent. (barring COVID-19)?

We’d like to see greater numbers of Lovely stuff. Thanks, Liam! TGP girls playing, and refereeing is al-

WELCOMETO League: W e s t L ondon Vets L e ague

W o r d s & Im a g e s : M organ A llan @ morganallann

JAMROCK A West London Vets match through the eyes of a twenty-one year-old: goalkeeping fumbles, wind-whipped crosses and pints of Deep Heat.

29 I didn’t really know what to expect when travelling down to Chiswick Boathouse on a blustery Saturday earlier this month. At the tender age of twenty-one, I was going to watch my first ever game of Veterans football as Jamrock FC’s Steppa side took on Latimer Road. As I stepped into this unknown world of middle-aged Sunday league, I was sceptical. In my mind I was picturing the same bitter forty year-olds who used to pick fights at our Tuesday five-a-side: angry, violent and, collectively, not very good. It was either that or the rather fragile gentlemen I see playing Walking football at the park every Sunday. As it happened, I need not have worried: what I saw was heart-warmingly familiar.

When I arrive at the pitch, Jamrock Steppa are already warming up. All aged thirty-five or older, the Jamrock players have a decidedly more considered pre-game routine than I’m used to. Ankle supports are pulled out of bags, knees are strapped up to within an inch of their lives and pints of Deep Heat are applied to those “problem areas”. This ceremony of self-care was an introduction to a running theme of the afternoon: staying injury-free. “The main difference between this and football when you’re younger is definitely the lack of aggression,” says Louis, forty. “Everyone’s a bit older now and no one wants to get injured, so no one is out to hurt each other. Guess we’ve mellowed in our old age!”

Jamrock are kitted out in a mish-mash of Barcelona shirts. Each jersey seemingly from a different era, they are covering all the bases: channeling Messi, Stoichkov, Rivaldo and Eto’o to create one West London-based Catalan super team. When asked about the shirts and their curious labelling policy - every shirt has “Con” printed large on the reverse - club founder Conway Blake just shrugs: “I wanted to make sure no one ran off with them, so I put my own name on the back.”

Conway founded Jamrock in 2017, building the initial squad from a group of old school mates in Ealing. After winning the Double in their first year, Jamrock looked to expand their operations and these days, four Jamrock teams take to the pitch every weekend. Conway picks the teams from the 240-strong club membership, a product of his extensive scouting around the West London area. “Me and Con actually used to be neighbours,” says Louis. “He saw my boots outside the front door one day and asked if I wanted to play. He picks people up from everywhere.” Local five-a-sides, other Sunday teams, even those that haven’t played in years get the call up. Wherever football is played in West London, Conway is there with a smile and a sign-up form.

Jamrock start the game well, presumably spurred on by a rousing pre-match team talk from Conway

'ANKLESUPPORTSAREPULLEDOUTOFBAGS, KNEESARE STRAPPEDUPTOWITHINANINCHOFTHEIRLIVESANDPINTS OFDEEPHEATAREAPPLIEDTOTHOSE“PROBLEMAREAS”.

THISCEREMONYOFSELF-CAREWASANINTRODUCTIONTOA RUNNINGTHEMEOFTHEAFTERNOON: STAYINGINJURY-FREE.'

that focused on the footwear of the Latimer Road left winger. “He’s got Air Force 1s on, boys. We are not losing to a lad who’s playing in Air Force.” The home side look dangerous going forward and, after half an hour, tricky winger Dan is felled inside the box. He steps up, cooly places it past the keeper and is mobbed by his teammates. The team spirit of the Jamrock players is evident. “It’s all about the banter. You need a good set of lads and that’s what we’ve got here,” says ten-year Vets veteran Julian. “The social stuff is the most important part of it all and even though the virus has made it harder to do, we make it work.”

This is a sentiment echoed by Louis, sneaking a cig on the sides while Conway focuses on the match.

“Everyone lives this side of the river so it’s a real family - guaranteed I could ask any of this lot if they fancied going for a beer and every night of the week I’d get five or six yeses.”

Jamrock come into the second half 2-1 up, a wind-assisted cross and a goalkeeping fumble combining to let the away side back into the game. They need to be calmer on the ball, Conway insists, play the simple game. Use Dan on the wing and try and get Pepsi more involved. Dan and Pepsi were Steppa’s new front two and, having watched them for forty-five

minutes, it was easy to see why they were the focus of the tactical advice. Both are fit and aged closer to the thirty-five mark than some of their opponents, and they look a step ahead on every possession. “Get them the ball and we’ll score goals,” Conway asserted. “We could get five here.”

They got six. Two more for Dan and two for Pepsi.

Despite a couple more goalkeeping fumbles from the Jamrock number 1 (“It’s too windy out here, man”), the home team run out deserved winners. They jog off, happy and exhausted.

As I stood there listening in to the post-match team talk, I smiled to myself. It was good to know that all the idiosyncrasies of my Sunday league experience still exist fifteen years into the future. That the kits still don’t match. That the same cliches apply. That it is still just twenty-two people waking up early at the weekend to play the game that they love. I walked back to the station with thoughts of the future. I’m only twenty-one and the world is going to change enormously in the fifteen years or so before I make my Vets debut. Technology will advance, politicians will rise and fall, England might even have a World Cup. Not everything will be different, though. At least I know that those blustery Saturday mornings will still be the same. I can’t wait. TGP

31

W e b s it e :

Us e C ode :

unozero.com

GRASSROOTS15

WHAT’SIN ANUMBER?

BOOTS

Unozero, the young football brand changing the game for the better

32

This is UNOZERO, the premium football brand inspired by the number worn by the all-time greats: the mythical #10. From Pele to Puskas, Platini to Zidane, Baggio to Eusebio, the number certainly carries more weight than just two digits on the back of a jersey; it represents the responsibility of leading a team, making history and doing it with grace. UNOZERO encompasses these values and beliefs, and has a mission to ensure the beautiful game has a boot to match.

35

THE STORY UNOZERO was founded in the autumn of 2017 as a true football-centric brand, one that focuses on producing toptier products for the serious player. Nowadays, the market is flooded with mass-produced, neon synthetic boots selling ‘mega speed, lethal power’ marketing fluff. UNOZERO is the antithesis as it aims to reclaim and re-establish the importance of craftsmanship and attention to detail in football products.

When asked about UNOZERO’s inspiration, Sam Garzon, UNOZERO’s founder, shared: ‘A s a lifelong football player, I was most interested in creating a connection with footballers, representing the beautiful game, respecting its traditions and customs, enabling joy and emotion, whilst at the same time being relevant in today ’s modern environment.’ The result? An elegant and honest ‘modern classic’ that allows footballers to play at their true peak level without any compromises or gimmicks.

THE VALUES UNOZERO is proud and open about its manufacturing practices. All boots are handmade in Italy using premium natural materials, in small batches, with a mix of timeless and modern techniques, by seasoned football shoemakers who have decades of experience working with some of the greatest players in the history of the game. UNOZERO offers access to the same quality of boots worn by professional players, something mainstream brands are unable to do.

UNOZERO’s first release, the Modelo 1.0, has a supple all-kangaroo leather upper which moulds to the foot like a fine glove. Its soleplate presents conical-bladed studs enabling secure traction and rotation. A built-in midsole provides a stable midfoot while allowing flexibility on the forefoot. The right amount of padding in the right places ensures balance between a comfortable fit and excellent ball touch. And a deep lacing system allows maximum adjustability and tightness control on the entire foot, thus providing superior lockdown.

THE PL AYERS UNOZERO is for those footballers who love the beautiful game as much as they respect and appreciate its core traditions. UNOZERO players want quality and style in a modern boot that performs.

There was a time when boots were not marketing billboards, and UNOZERO respects that lost tradition. This is why UNOZERO boots only sport discreetly embossed and stitched logos which blend with the shoe’s design.

These boots are for confident players — for those who understand that performance and fit are paramount. No neon green or electric pink boots here; rather, refined, meaningful and purposefully designed boots aimed at providing an elevated experience.

From the Hackney Marshes in London to Randall’s Island soccer fields in New York City, from the urban pitches of Sao Paulo to Sydney’s Centennial Park, UNOZERO has quickly become one of the preferred choices of those who seek a higher quality product and playing experience. TGP Learn more at unozero.com and make sure you take advantage of the exclusive 15% discount for our grassroots family by using the code grassroots15. Enjoy!

League: C ity of S outhampton S unday F ootball L e ag ue

Im a g e : A lex Daniel @ – alexdaniel

Grassroots Photography A familiar sight in grassroots football. A young volunteer puts the nets up at The Queen Elizabeth II Recreational Grounds in Blackfield, Southampton, before DC United take on Redbridge in the City of Southampton Sunday Football League Division 3.

37

SENDUSYOU GRASSROOTSPHO R TOGRAPHYTO:

EDITOR@GRASSR OOTSPOST.UK &WE’LLPUBLISH OUR FAVOURITEHERE.

WOMEN'S

League: S outh E ast C ounties Women’s L e ag ue D iv is ion 2 E as t

W o r d s & Im a g e s : Ve e P ande y @ v e e –pandey

39

THEBETTES AREFLYING! What a year to start a football team.

Vee Pandey travels to the coastal town of Deal in Kent to meet Betteshanger Ladies.

A team flourishing against the odds.

Last week, I travelled to a tiny seaside town called Deal in lovely Kent to watch a game of football in the wind and rain. A not so exciting experience for some, but I was stoked, for a few reasons: 1. I am a tourist at heart, after all.

2.

It is an absolute privilege to watch a game of live football during this crazy, crazy time.

3. Not just your regular football: Women’s football AND a local derby. Pretty much the whole dream.

It’s a local derby between Deal Town Rangers and Betteshanger Welfare and it’s the first time they’ve met. I find out that although Deal is well up on the

#staycation list with its independent shops and restaurants, and picture postcard seafront, Betteshanger has its roots in mining. It was once home to the largest colliery in Kent, making for some of the country’s most militant miners.

Proud histories in sport and mining go hand in hand and Betteshanger is no different, playing their home games at an old Welfare Sports and Social Club at the heart of what was once the mining community.

While the football club is steeped in heritage, it’s also a progressive one, with Betteshanger Women’s team forming smack before lockdown set in.

'WEWANTEDTHERETOBELONGEVITYINGIRLS’&WOMEN’S FOOTBALL&GETTINGTHATACROSSWASIMPORTANT.'

Coming from an area grounded with a male-dominated football narrative, the ladies at Betteshanger are not only an FA Charter Standard club but also offer an incredibly warm humble abode to grassroots football.

Something we all need during this time with the pandemic bringing its own strains onto the club. Kirsty, their player-manager, and Jem, the team’s captain, described: “Setting up was always going to be complicated as both Jem and I have little in the way of managerial experience, and although we had a vision for what we wanted, the pandemic put everything on pause. There were question marks over whether or not the league would go ahead and then of course how on earth you bring together a large group of ladies that have to comply with non-contact in a contact sport.”

I came into 2020 thinking 2019 wasn’t short of bad news, but boy, was I wrong. While 2020 is shaping up to be a bit of a downer, it’s hard to ignore that this year has also been tremendous for Women’s football. As of early September, Brazil’s Women’s football team will receive the same pay as their male counterparts. As of a week ago, it was announced that World Cup winners Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath will be playing in England’s fast-growing Women’s league for the first time ever. And as of Sunday, Bettes absolutely smashed their local derby, bagging a score of 4-1 against Deal Town (a modest 8-1 in my opinion, if only the assistant referee had decided to leave his flag home and take a day off).

Trying to form a team in a contactless world, seeking out new ways to stay close, it’s no denying that it couldn’t have been easy.

“We’ve been relentless, recruited like crazy, promoted where possible and nurtured the side from the get-go all alongside full-time jobs. We’ve worked tirelessly trying to stay connected with the girls, the club and our sponsor during the lockdown. We approached several established men’s sides, putting forward our plans for the ladies team. We wanted there to be longevity in girls’ and women’s football and getting that across was important. We presented our long-term plan and recognised the need to feed back into the football community. It’s been tough and at times would have been easy to pack it in, but we’ve stuck it out together for the good of a truly incredible bunch of ladies.”

There’s something supremely sublime about the way the girls get along at Betteshanger, given the short duration of them playing together. Even with their youngest player being sixteen years old and their oldest player thirty-two (although you’d never be able to tell), the sisterhood and camaraderie between them is undeniable, both on and off the pitch.

“Some of the ladies juggle motherhood, work and football ... I’ll get a mum to answer that. There will likely always be differing opinions on female athletes. Still, I think amongst our team there is so much positivity. I think that body image is something most girls/ladies battle regardless of being on or

41

off the pitch. We try to encourage each other and think that most of the ladies instead focus on football and improving.

In terms of balancing it all, there is so much value in wellbeing, and even mums need to have time for themselves. What better way than running around a pitch in the fresh air with teammates and friends.”

And you know what, folks, Kirsty couldn’t have said it better. Running around a pitch in the fresh air with your mates and waiting to get a pint after. There’s no better way of describing grassroots football. In my opinion, anyway.

So, what makes Betteshanger so special?

“We have so much diversity in the team, the mixture of ages, experience and backgrounds. Every single lady has contributed to our strong team dynamic. Grassroots provides the opportunity for all to engage with football, from the little ones right up to the senior teams. You can turn up simply to play or turn up with that competitive spirit. I think I said earlier, there is a lot of talent at Betteshanger, and I’m proud to say that I’m a part of it. The ladies turn up to training consistently, and in some of the most hideous weather, they smile and graft the entire session. They are dedicated and are a truly lovely bunch.”

Betteshanger is not only home to some phenomenal talent, but it’s home to mums, teachers and some lovely women who, when they’re not doing their day jobs, just love kicking a ball about.

And for what it’s worth, that’s three wins out of three and they’re top of the league. Go Bettes! TGP

TECH

In t e r v ie w : M ik e B ac k le r @ the grassroots post

Your Instant Replay We all want to see our finest grassroots moments on video.

The goals, the raking through balls, the last-ditch tackles. We now live in a time where wherever and whatever level we play, that’s possible. Your Instant Replay founder Louis Clark tells us about what they have done, and what they can do, to help grassroots football clubs professionalise their offering and make sure that magic moments are never missed.

so when people watch they know that the output will be good because we are behind the camera.

Which clubs have you worked with in London and the South East?

Way too many to list. Pre-COVID-19, we were doing thirty-plus games a week across all levels, from Under 9 to Vets, Sunday League to National League, and everything in between. We film women's games in the National League and FA

So tell us about Your Instant Replay

game footage and extended high-

Championship. 95% of the teams we

and how it started?

lights the same day as the game being

had in 2016 are still with us today, which

Since 2016, Your Instant Replay have

played. This means that coaching staff

is something I’m very happy about. We

been providing quick, accessible, and

and fans can re-watch the action from

have covered disability football and also

low-cost services — match filming,

both a tactical strategic stance as

got the job to film international friendlies

media, sports performance analysis —

well as a high production highlights

for the FA between England Lionesses

to non-league football clubs, schools,

package that is an enjoyable watch for

Youth v France at St George’s Park.

and non-pro teams in the UK . I played

supporters. This is where we are trying

abroad for ten years and everything

to distance ourselves from our compe-

Tell us about the impact that working

was filmed and I loved it. I had mates

tition: we get footage back to coaches,

with you can have on a grassroots club?

that were playing Isthmian level and

players and fans as quickly as possible,

Our strap line is 'We Film Any Game' and

County level football and I would try to

because eyeballs move so quickly

this is true. My favourite level is Sunday

find highlights but there was nothing! I

nowadays. We really try to give clubs

League as it just churns out viral mo-

decided there was an opportunity there,

the opportunity to get our fee paid for

ments. We have great relationships with

so I stopped playing and jumped into

by a sponsor — we can give sponsors

the biggest football social platforms in the

filming as many games as possible.

incredible reach and value compared

world and they love using our content.

to any traditional forms of sponsor-

Many of our clips that we have filmed be-

Do you play yourself ?

ship, which is always handy, especially

tween grassroots clubs have done over a

I was at Brighton from ten to eighteen

during the pandemic when times are

million views, with a few over five million.

years of age and then went to Syracuse

tough for all football clubs.

It’s powerful, and gives clubs at this level exposure that can’t be matched.

University in New York to play college soccer. From there, I went and played

What's the part of it you enjoy the most?

in Australia for two years and Manila

More than anything, I enjoy dealing with

What 's nex t for Your Instant Replay?

for another two years, playing in the

football people everyday. The non-league

Pre-COVID-19, I would have said fifty

AFC Cup (Asia's version of the Europa

and grassroots game is full of characters.

games a week — that was the plan for

League). I then signed at Tampines

We work with people from all sorts of

the 20/21 season. With everything that's

Rovers in Singapore, where Jermaine

backgrounds and each day is exciting —

going on and our work being stopped,

Pennant was playing, but I didn’t pass

I never know what problems the day will

like most, we have to just adjust. We have

the medical! I haven’t played in four

bring, but I love it. The common denomi-

only been able to trade for four months

years since I was at Worthing — I had a

nator with the people we deal with is that

this year, but we are hanging in there. We

kick about the other day at five-a-side

everyone is straight-talking and you know

are ready to go again when the govern-

and I was useless, so behind the camera

where you stand, which is brilliant.

ment gives us the green light. Fifty games

is where I will be staying!

The most important part of my job

a week isn’t going to happen this year,

is recruiting and training the guys who

but I will do everything I can to get Your

Beyond players being able to

are filming and editing. We’ve got guys

Instant Replay there eventually.

back up their stories about their

and girls filming now who were with me

TGP

wonder goals, what does Your

when we started in 2016. It’s really im-

To find out how Your Instant Replay

Instant Replay off er ?

portant to me that our filming and edit-

can benefit your club, visit

All the clubs we work with get full

ing is consistent across all of our games,

www.yourinstantreplay.co.uk.

REFEREES

Author: Dr Tom W ebb @ DrTomWebb

T he book is now available on routle dge .com

Referees, Match Officials & Abuse Around all the positives that we've covered in this paper, one of the things that we feel incredibly strongly about is the issue of referee abuse, whether verbally, game to game, or in the very worst case, physical assault.

Referees are crucial to the game and this trend needs to be understood and eradicated.

Dr Tom Webb from The University of Portsmouth, alongside his colleague Mike Rayner, Jamie Cleland from The University of South Australia and Jimmy O'Gorman from Edge Hill University researched this issue for their new book, Referees, Match Officials & Abuse.

The book has been published following

abuse. Research into football referees in

years of research into referees and the

France and the Netherlands is consid-

abuse of match officials. Initially con-

ered and compared to findings across

centrating on the definition, prevalence

sports in England. There is also the con-

and incidences of abuse towards match

sideration of abuse from other countries

officials in sport, it also focuses on the

around the world through media reports,

responses of over 8,000 match officials

providing a full picture of the current

from different sports and across different

landscape that exists for match officials.

countries. It’s important to understand

The final chapter focuses on areas of

the challenges that match officials face

good practice from around the world. Or-

in their line of work before we can start

ganisations that have implemented policy

to move towards the consideration of

and schemes to deal with the abuse of

solutions and policy implications.

match officials have been identified and

The following chapters then consider

here as examples of what can be done.

not reporting abuse to which they are

Furthermore, the final chapter includes a

subjected and how this can influence the

ten-point plan designed to control abuse,

decline of the number of match officials.

increase support and improve the reten-

We also focus on the need for positive

tion of match officials.

TGP

environments for match officials, players, coaches and spectators, because these groups are interlinked in sport and any changes to the operational environment of sport should positively benefit all participants, no matter which group these changes are aimed towards.

The focus of the book then shifts to consider the importance of any policy change, and what this might look like in different sports. Most importantly, given the prevalence of abuse towards match officials in sport, we focus on the mental health and wellbeing of match officials, the impact of any abuse they may experience, and how interventions and changes to the support networks for match officials might positively influence their mental health and wellbeing.

The final two chapters of the book consider the experiences of match officials in

44

their policies and schemes are outlined

the issues caused by match officials

countries outside England and the good practice that exists when tackling such

The abuse of match officials is not an issue for one country or one sport; it is a growing concern across the world. However, the apparent reduction in the numbers of match officials, through reduced recruitment and retention, leaves many sports at a crossroads. Implementing change can take time, and time is a commodity that many governing bodies do not have when it comes to the declining numbers of match officials. Joined-up and collaborative approaches between sports is a starting point and should be encouraged.

The book focuses on the need for action: one choice that is not acceptable is to do nothing.

Words : Trev or B ook ing

Illu s t ra t io n : M illie C he s te rs @ millie chesters

45

OR T R E V I NG : K B OO

!

R E W O L B E L T WHI S

Trevor* is an up-and-coming referee who will blow the whistle each month on what it’s really like to take control of grassroots games…

* not his real name.

I’ve been refereeing for more than ten years now. I continue to enjoy it (you wouldn’t do it if you didn’t) and I learn more every time I go up a step in the pyramid. Every stage presents new factors to take into account as it’s the little things which make refereeing at a non-professional level challenging. I’ve dealt with parents fighting, I’ve had to send off a riled up thirteen-year-old, and I’ve been told that my mum doesn’t love me (not true), but you quickly learn to deal with all that. Each level presents its own hurdles that you have to overcome and learn from.

When you reach open-age level, you’re on your own.

Literally. There are no assistant refs with you and it can be a lonely stroll to the pitch. You need to find a couple of assistants pretty quickly, ideally one from each side. Easier said than done on a damp Sunday morning. After a bit of cajoling you can end up working with an over-enthusiastic fan on one flank and a sub on the other. The sub can go either way – usually they’re not keen on flagging against their own team, although if they’re a striker who’s been dropped, they’re not shy of raising the flag. I try and let them know what I want from them and spell out that they may be overruled if my gut tells me.

And gut feeling definitely plays a bigger role than ego. You may not believe it, but remember that next time you accuse a ref of ‘ruining the game’, they are well aware that being a ref is not cool. I certainly thought I was cool in my first game as a teenager, overseeing an U10s mini soccer match, but that quickly came to an end with the realisation that whatever level you’re at, there are twenty-two players who want to win and they’ll let you know about it. It’s not about you. Ever.

Rather than shoo appeals away, I prefer to be human and speak to the players to explain my decisions, especially to the more ‘vocal’. When I reached County League level, I learnt that the more experienced players were often the loudest.

They usually identify themselves pretty quickly and if you build a rapport with them, everyone is in for a better game.

I’ve even been known to admit that I’ve got the odd decision wrong and will very happily apologise for awarding a throw-in the wrong way. Of course, there is a time and a place for that kind of admission, and a last minute penalty is probably not it. TGP

COACHING

THE COACHES CLINIC

47

Words : M ik e B ac k le r & Tom 'T he C oac h'

01

R AISE THE PULSE It’s probably the most boring part of a warm-up, I know. You just want to get onto the balls, but raising your pulse is proven to be the most important method for reducing your chance of getting injured.

Starting off with five minutes of general movements increases your body temperature, pumps more blood (and therefore more oxygen) to your muscles, and heats up your muscles and tendons, making them more flexible – meaning you’ll be able to reach for that stray pass with less chance of

We could all use a little support and some fresh ideas on the training pitch, and in our pre and post match routines. This month we have Tom: a Premier League & International Fitness Coach to offer a helping hand.

pulling something. It also lets your body know that it’s time to switch everything on and prepare so it’s not a total shock when the first whistle blows and you’re having to go from zero to 100!

I recommend spending the first three minutes working continuously through a variety of movements, such as jogging, skipping variations, sidesteps, cariocas (working sideways, twisting the back foot in front and then behind) and forwards and backwards jockeying. This can either be done going across the pitch and back or from the touchline to the edge

Having played grassroots football all over Yorkshire as a youngster, Tom experienced many a cold Sunday morning trying to get warm before a match. A jog here, a few stretches there. It was only when he began studying Sports Science at university that he began to fully understand how a more structured, specific warm-up can help improve matchday performance and reduce the risk of injury. He now has ten years’ experience leading warm-ups with Premier League and international-level players.

That period before a match is a tricky one for a grassroots manager, but it is vital.

Filling in the team sheets, putting the goals up, working out who starts where, ringing around to see where the latecomers are, all the while trying to shepherd fifteen footballers that are desperate to larrup the ball at the recently raised goals and crisp white nets. Not every manager is blessed with a host of equipment and support, so here’s an achievable pre-match routine from the very top of the game.

of the box. Then, for the last two minutes, build in some sharper movements with a short amount of rest in between: accelerations, cutting and pressing movements, slalom runs and jumping.

M E T HOD: Jog x2 Skipping (arms moving in circles) Skipping (arms moving across the body) Sidesteps x2 Jockeying Forwards Jockeying Backwards Right Knee Drives Left Knee Drives Heels Up 75% Acceleration 80% Acceleration 5m Press & Turn x2 85% Acceleration Slalom Run Jump & Acceleration

02

03

Once you’ve got the blood pumping and you’re

So, the boring stuff is out of the way. Here we go,

feeling warmer, it’s time to stretch it out. There has

we’re finally onto the footballs. From what I’ve

always been a lot of discussion around whether

learnt, players like to get a lot of contact on the ball

static or dynamic stretching is better before a match.

during the warm-up to test their touch, get a feel

This is because some research shows that lots of

for it and prepare psychologically. Depending on

long, static stretches (twenty to thirty seconds)

how many footballs you have access to, I would

may reduce power in the major muscle groups. In

suggest getting into groups (the smaller the better,

my opinion, as long as the static stretches are only

so each player gets more touches) and passing

briefly held, a combination of both types is ideal, and

the ball between you, starting initially over just five

almost all players I have worked with feel at their

metres. One or two touches, or more if you need,

best when there is a mixture of both in the routine.

for two minutes. Then, progress the distance of the

STRETCH IT OUT

TEST THE TOUCH

passes a little bit, opening up to ten to fifteen meTargeting the major muscle groups is key here. I

tres, working those kicking muscles and “getting

would suggest starting off with six- to eight-second

your eye in” for another two minutes.

static stretches of the groins, quads, hamstrings and calves. Following this, it is important to progress into dynamic stretches, and just three to four reps of each of the following suggestions will prepare the body for some of the upcoming movements and activate the muscles ready for the demands of the game. Squats, “opening” and “closing” the groins, sweeping the hamstrings (as low as you can go with your hands), lunges, “hugging” the knee, swinging the leg across the body, swinging the leg through, calf raises/walking up on your toes, and finally some single leg hops and holds to make sure the ankles and knees are stable and ready to accept the load of jumping and landing, twisting and turning – therefore reducing the risk of injury.

M E T HOD: Groin Stretch Hamstring Stretch Quad Stretch Calf Stretch Squats Open the Groins Close the Groins Hamstring Sweep Lunge Standing Knee Hug Swing Across the Body Swing Through Tip-Toe Walk Hop & Hold

04

KEEP THE B ALL We’ve done our pulse raiser, we’ve stretched it out, we’ve had a touch of the ball, now let’s get specific. Anyone who has watched a Premier League warm-up on TV will have seen they always incorporate a small possession or keep ball in the pre-match routine. This is to combine the physical, technical, tactical and mental components of the game. Playing five- or eight-a-side (depending on your numbers) in a 30x30-metre area introduces some match-specific play, producing physical movements at high-intensity and testing the technical elements under pressure. It also introduces tactical awareness for keeping the ball and finding the right pass, as well as mental stimulation for match-intensity and game demands. We don’t need to play for too long here, two or three 2-minute rounds are enough to stimulate all aspects and provide the cutting edge over the opposition, making sure you’re ready to go from the off and start well. It also gives you a chance to get accustomed to the pitch, judge how the ball bounces and sense how fast or slow the ball moves on the grass. Equipment-wise, a handful of cones will do the trick, or even a few jackets and jumpers to act as the corners of the area.

49

05

DO YOUR THING

Passing Passing

Finishing

Defensive Work

Ten minutes to go. Final preparations. Let’s break off for three or four minutes and focus on what your position requires. Defender? Work as a unit or in pairs, getting some headers in, lots of communication, some longer passes. Striker? Work some shots on goal and test your keeper. Winger? Swing in a few crosses for the strikers, get those connections going. Central midfielder? Look for a mixture of everything: pass and move combinations, creating passing lines, some pressing and some headers.

06

SHARPEN UP

Right, you’ve got your shinnies in, the tape

es and accelerations will give you that final

is on, you’ve grabbed your shirt and we are

stimulation so that you’re alert and on your

minutes from kick-off. Let’s sharpen up in

toes, ready for when the whistle blows.

these final moments. Some fast feet along the line and a couple of short, sharp press-

Now, it ’s over to you.

50

Support: G ras s roots D is c ov e r y

W o r d s & Im a g e s : M atthe w F letc he r-Jone s @ iammfj

Which Grassroots Clubs Are Around You?

roots Grascsovery Dis

As we arise from our winter hibernation, grassroots clubs need us more than ever and with the doors closed on his beloved Spurs, Matt Fletcher-Jones heads out on a Beverley Brook stroller to explore a woodland world of grassroots football.

Over the last month, my footballing world has revolved around three grounds, all within a mile and a half of where I live. I’ve visited them virtually every day and as of yet, I’ve never seen a second of football.

SW19 is famous for one sport and one sport only. You’re never more than a mishit forehand away from tennis, and my regular sporting consumption takes me to the considerably less glamorous N17 and a seat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The imposing of Lockdown 2 in November and our government-sanctioned outdoor exercise has opened up a whole new world of grassroots football to me. Not that I’ve seen any actual football.

Each day I use that hour (is it still an hour? I don’t know anymore) to escape a world of Zoom meetings and gradually head further and further into the woods of Wimbledon Common, allowing myself to get lost on its myriad paths, all the time edging closer to its audible

boundary of the A3. After a couple of weeks of this daily amble, I emerged from the far corner of the woods into a clearing to be greeted by a huge World War One memorial. Usually this would be enough to capture the attention of my inner historian, but the pathway continued beyond the monument, opening out into a vast expanse of football pitches rendered silent by Covid-19.

Ever since, my days have taken in the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields, home primarily to Old Thorntonians FC, before following Beverley Brook along a tree-lined tour of non-league football grounds in this corner of London. A world I knew nothing of just a few short weeks ago.

The first of Old Thorntonians’ six teams reside in the Amateur Combination Premier League, and even though they (technically) play on Wimbledon Common and are a defensive clearance away from the deer of Rich-

mond Park, they’re a thoroughly modern amateur club.

Visit the Club Shop and you can get your Nike playing or training kit with the option of adding your own initials (I’m considering it). The first team manager Peter Walsh can be seen on the club website, walking his dog with a pint in hand. You get the impression that the club works hard and plays hard, and proudly goes by the nickname of ‘The Onions’ after some merchandise arrived with a classic misprint. You can’t help but like them.

Left: Entry to the Commons Extensions Below: A lockdown training session under way. the Commons Extensions will be awash with grassroots football in December

Their division also gives an insight into the nature and history of club football in South West London. The Old Thorntonians this season go up against the Old Hamptonians, Old Meadonians, Old Suttonians and Old Wokingians, as well as Fitzwilliam Old Boys and Fulham Compton Old Boys. But like anything in this part of the world, change is waiting just around the corner or, in this case, a few metres over one of the many little stone bridges of Beverley Brook.

Here, the A3 curves south at Kingston Vale and reveals another mass of pitches at Commons Extensions. The Extensions give the impression of classic ‘rec’ grounds, available for hire to all and sundry. They too give an insight into football in this part of London where many clubs are rovers and wanderers without a regular home, likely to play in Balham one week and alongside Beverley Brook the next.

Today’s stroll takes place on a Thursday and the nets are up alongside the cricket wickets covered for winter after the briefest of seasons, but the fixture list reads P-P across the board. Sitting close to the borders of Kingston, Merton and Wandsworth, each weekend sees a variety of local leagues visit the Extensions, and I’ll be hoping to catch some action in the coming weeks from the Southern Sunday Football League, with both Dara FC and Wimbledon Wolves calling the Extensions home.

Dara FC may only be six years old but are already growing, with a reserve side this season joining League 8 of the Southern Sunday, while Wimbledon Wolves (clad in the gold and black of their Premier League namesakes) are about to embark on just their second season.

Both will have dreams of promotion, yet it’s hard to look past the confidently named South London All Stars.

With a name like that, surely success is guaranteed?

Even when football starts up again, the impact of Covid-19 will be apparent, with many clubs unable to use regular facilities and having to venture further afield. Godalming’s Old Carthusians, the Juventus of the Arthurian League, are amongst those utilising the Commons Extensions for home fixtures this season as they can’t currently play at Charterhouse School. Will it impact on their hopes of a tenth double in fourteen years? Probably not. A second FA Cup victory after that of 1881 may be a longer bet.

Speaking of the FA Cup, the final ground on my Beverley Brook journey has already hosted FA Cup action this season. A mesh fence and rows of conifers mean that I have to hop back over the water and stroll further south to reach the home ground of the big boys of the Brook clubs.

With the path narrowing, the woods increasingly encroaching, confident crows and falling acorns, you wouldn’t know you were about to enter a football ground. Over another stone bridge with an adjacent heron on sentry duty, the light dazzles as Wibbandune Sports Ground opens up before you. The ground and its two small stands has been home to Colliers Wood United since they moved a few miles west nearly thirty years ago.

Now, full disclosure, ‘The Woods’ reside in the Combined Counties Premier League and are a semi-pro club, but let’s not let that spoil a good grassroots walk.

Especially as the club is 146 years old and must play at one of the capital’s most idyllic grounds, even if permanently sound-tracked by the hum of the A3 on one side.

After a great escape from relegation in 2019 and sitting safely in mid-table when 2020 was cut short, hopes are high for returning to past glories in 2020-21.

Here ends my Beverley Brook football journey and it is a fitting finish, too. Before lockdown got me wandering, I wasn’t aware of these grounds or their clubs. Today, the strolls continue and with the season starting afresh again soon, I’ll finally get to see them host some actual football.

And during lockdown the twentieth anniversary of me moving to London passed. My first home in the city back in 2000? Colliers Wood. It’s a funny old game. TGP

S e p te m b e r

—

No v e m b e r

20 20

T H E S E A R E T H E E A R LY S E A S O N ...

MOVERS + SHAKERS

L e a g ue Ta b le s

/

To p S c o re rs

/

Uns ung He ro e s

In th is is s ue w e ’ ll b e fo c us e d o n W o m e n’s , Ve t s & M e n’s S aturd ay fo o tb a ll b u t w e lo o k fo r w a rd to g e tting s tuc k in to S und ay L e a g ue in is s ue 2 , & F u t s a l, W a lk ing & D is a b ilit y F o o tb a ll w he n the y ’re b a c k s a fe ly up a nd run n ing .

WOMEN'S

B E DS & HE R T S WOME N’S F OOT B A LL LE A GUE P

TEAM

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PLD

W

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3

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7

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G a r s t o n L a d ie s S e n io r S e c t io n F ir s t

4

3

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1

7

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C h e s h u n t F C W o m e n & G ir ls F ir s t

3

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H e m e l H e m p s t e a d To w n L a d ie s F C F ir s t

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T O P S C O R E R : E le a n o r L o v e lo c k (O ak land s W olv e s L ad ie s F irs t)

6

T HA M E S VA LLE Y C OUN T IE S W OM E N'S LE A G UE P

TEAM

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C a r t e r t o n L a d ie s F ir s t

8

6

0

2

18

2

T ile h u r s t P a n t h e r s W o m e n D e v e lo p m e n t

6

5

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15

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W o k in g L a d ie s 1s t

4

4

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12

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W a r g ra v e W o m e n F C

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10

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M ilt o n Un it e d L a d ie s

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1

2

7

PLD

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T O P S C O R E R : Ly d ia Ve t t e s e ( Tilehurst Panthers Women Development)

15

HA MP S HIR E COUNT Y WOME N’S F OOT B A LL LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

B u r s le d o n L a d ie s 1s t

5

3

0

2

9

2

Un it e d S e r v ic e s P o r t s m o u t h W o m e n s

3

3

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9

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G o s p o r t F a lc o n s W o m e n

4

3

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9

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D o w n G ra n g e L a d ie s F ir s t

4

3

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9

5

S h a n k lin L F C F ir s t

3

1

1

1

4

T O P S C O R E R : K ir b y A n d e r s o n (B urs le don L ad ie s 1s t)

9

55

S US S E X C OUNT Y W OM E N & GIR L S F OOT B A LL LE A GUE P

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P a g h a m L a d ie s

6

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S a lt d e a n Un it e d F C W o m e n's D e v e lo p m e n t

4

3

0

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9

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H a s t in g s Un it e d W o m e n

3

3

0

0

9

4

M o n t p e lie r V illa A F C W o m e n

4

2

1

1

7

5

C h ic h e s t e r C it y W o m e n

3

1

1

1

4

T O P S C O R E R : M o lly H ill (H as tings Unite d W ome n)

9

S OUT H E A S T COUNT IE S WOME N'S F OOT B A LL LE A GUE DIV IS ION 1 E A S T P

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Margate

6

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M e r id ia n

7

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M a id s t o n e Un it e d

7

4

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14

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C ra y Va lle y (P M ) L a d ie s

6

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9

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T O P S C O R E R : K a ra R ic h a r d s o n (M arg ate F C L ad ie s )

10

G R E AT E R L O N D O N W O M E N ' S L E A G U E D I V I S I O N 1 S O U T H P

TEAM

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B r o m le y F C L a d ie s

8

6

2

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20

2

S u t t o n Un it e d W o m e n U 2 1's

7

5

1

1

16

3

S o u t h E a s t P a ra k e e t s F C S E P F C W o m e n

7

4

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12

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B a lh a m P a n t h e r s W o m e n

6

3

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11

5

W a lt o n C a s u a ls L a d ie s R e s e r v e s

7

3

1

3

10

T O P S C O R E R : C h a r lo t t e L e e (B romle y F C L ad ie s )

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WOMEN'S(CONT.)

E A S T E R N R E GION WOME N’S F OOT B A LL LE A GUE DIV IS ION 1 S OUT H P

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W y m o n d h a m To w n W o m e n s

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Peterborough Nor thern S tar

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S t Iv e s To w n L a d ie s

6

3

1

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10

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H a r lo w To w n L a d ie s

5

3

1

1

10

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C o ln e y H e a t h L a d ie s

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1

9

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T O P S C O R E R : G ra c e B ir c h a ll (W rox ham F C W ome n)

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S OUT H E A S T COUNT IE S K E NT DIV IS ION 1 P

TEAM

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C a s t le C o lt s L a d ie s

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9

T O P S C O R E R : R a c h e l S t e v e n s (M e rs ham S por ts C lub L ad ie s )

11

S OUT H E A S T COUNT IE S WOME N'S F OOT B A LL LE A GUE DIV IS ION 1 W E S T P

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10

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A F C A c orns

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6

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T O P S C O R E R : C h lo e H ig h a m (A F C A c orns W ome n 1s t)

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57

VETS

S OUT HE R N V E T E R A NS F OOT B A LL LE A GUE P

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B r o m le ia n s 1s t

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12

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D e f ia n c e

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J o h n s o n & P h illip s

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T O P S C O R E R : M a t t h e w K n u c k e y (C ray ford O ne B ell)

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K ENT V E TER A NS LE A GUE P

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S h e e r n e s s E a s t Ve t e ra n s

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A n c h o r ia n s Ve t e ra n s R o v e r s

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M a r d e n M in o r s Ve t e ra n s

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Ta n k e r t o n Ve t e ra n s

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T O P S C O R E R : X x x x x X x x x x x (X x x x x x x x x x )

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NOR T H E S S E X V E T E R A NS LE A GUE P

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R a m s e y & M is t le y Ve t e ra n s

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9

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S t a n w a y R o v e r s Ve t s F ir s t

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R o w h e d g e Ve t e ra n s

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1

7

T O P S C O R E R : G a r y S t a n f o r d (R ams e y & M is tle y Vete rans )

11

VETS(CONT.)

E S S E X V E TER A NS LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

H a r o ld W o o d A t h le t ic

7

4

3

0

15

2

Hu t t o n O ld B o y s

5

4

1

1

13

3

O ld C h e lm s f o r d ia n s

6

3

1

2

10

4

P a r s lo e A t h le t ic

5

3

0

2

9

5

S p o r t in g C lu b W o o d h a m

6

3

0

3

9

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : D e a n M c A t e e r (P ars loe A thletic )

8

WE S T LONDON V E T E R A NS LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

B a n k o f E n g la n d A F C

3

2

1

0

7

2

P o ly t e c h n ic

2

2

0

0

6

3

Nottsborough

2

1

1

0

4

4

S p a r t a n Ve t s F C

4

1

1

2

4

5

C r o x le y C o m m u n it y Ve t e ra n s 1s t 's

2

1

0

1

3

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

F A R N H A M & D I S T R I C T S U N D AY F O O T B A L L L E A G U E P

TEAM

1

R o w Un it e d Ve t e ra n s F ir s t

4

3

0

1

9

2

E v e r s le y & C a lif o r n ia Ve t e ra n s

6

2

2

2

8

3

R o p le y Ve t s (S u n )

5

2

1

2

7

4

S n o w g o o s e Ve t e ra n s F ir s t t e a m

2

2

0

0

6

5

F a r n h a m To w n Ve t e ra n s

5

1

2

2

5

T O P S C O R E R : S t u a r t F in d la y (R ople y Vets (S un))

9

59

MEN'SKENT&ESSEX

E S S E X O LY M P I A N L E A G U E P

TEAM

1

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

B u c k h u r s t H ill

8

7

0

1

21

2

B a s ild o n To w n

7

7

0

0

21

3

C a t h o lic Un it e d

8

4

2

2

14

4

S ungate

6

4

1

1

13

5

L e ig h R a m b le r s

8

4

1

3

13

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : S u le y m a n Z u h d u (B uc k hurs t Hill)

14

K E NT COUNT Y LE A GUE PR EMIE R DIV IS ION P

TEAM

1

K in g s H ill

9

7

0

2

21

2

New Romney

9

6

0

3

18

3

F a r n b o r o u g h O ld B o y s G u ild

8

5

2

1

17

4

H a w k in g e To w n

9

5

1

3

16

5

F le e t d o w n Un it e d

8

5

1

2

16

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : K ie ra n M c G iff e n (Fleetdown United)

7

E S S E X A LLIA NCE F OOTB A LL LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

F C B aresi

8

7

1

0

22

2

DT F C

6

6

0

0

18

3

West E s sex Reser ves

7

5

1

1

16

4

Ly m o r e G a r d e n s

8

5

1

2

16

5

J o lo f S p o r t s

5

4

1

0

13

T O P S C O R E R : Ja k e K is s ie d u (DT F C )

10

MEN'SKENT&ESSEX(CONT.)

E S S E X O LY M P I A N L E A G U E D I V I S I O N 1 P

TEAM

1

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

O n g a r To w n

7

6

1

0

19

2

R u n w e ll S p o r t s

7

4

2

1

17

3

O ld C h e lm s f o r d ia n s

7

4

0

3

12

4

G a lle y w o o d

6

4

0

2

12

5

To b y

8

3

2

3

11

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : A a r o n B la ir (O ngar Tow n)

15

K E NT COUNT Y LE A GUE DIV IS ION 1 CE NT R A L & E A S T P

TEAM

1

L a r k f ie ld A n d N e w H y t h e W a n d e r e r s

8

7

0

1

21

2

H o lla n d s A n d B la ir R e s e r v e s

8

4

2

2

14

3

S n o d la n d To w n R e s e r v e s

7

4

1

2

13

4

S turr y

6

4

1

1

13

5

A shford

7

3

2

2

11

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : C a in e S m it h (L ark field A nd Ne w Hy the W ande re rs )

12

K E NT COUNT Y LE A GUE DIV IS ION 1 W E S T P

TEAM

1

H F S P & Te n -E m -B e e

7

6

0

1

18

2

H a lls A F C

9

5

2

2

17

3

R e d Ve lv e t

7

5

1

1

16

4

W e llin g P a r k

8

5

0

3

15

5

Metrogas

7

4

1

2

13

T O P S C O R E R : H a r r y Ta y lo r (R e d Velv et)

9

61

MEN'SSUSSEX&HAMPSHIRE

M ID S US S E X LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

S id le y Un it e d

7

6

0

1

18

2

L in d f ie ld

9

6

0

3

18

3

H o llin g t o n Un it e d

8

5

0

3

15

4

W illin g d o n A t h le t ic

7

4

1

2

13

5

S p o r t in g L in d f ie ld

8

4

1

3

13

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : J o n C u n n in g h a m (L ind field )

12

E A S T S US S E X LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

C r o w h u r s t F ir s t

8

5

1

2

16

2

N o r t h ia m 75 F ir s t

7

4

1

2

13

3

S t L e o n a r d s S o c ia l F ir s t

7

3

2

2

11

4

W a d h u r s t Un it e d F ir s t

6

3

2

1

11

5

R o c k -A -N o r e (O ld H a s t in g s ) F ir s t

7

3

1

3

10

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : R e e c e J o h n s o n (Rock-A-Nore (Old Hastings) First)

9

W E S T S US S E X LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

C a p e l F ir s t

6

5

1

0

16

2

W e s t C h ilt in g t o n F ir s t

5

4

0

1

12

3

L a v a n t F ir s t

6

3

1

2

10

4

Up p e r B e e d in g R e s e r v e s

5

3

0

2

9

5

T h e Un ic o r n B o g n o r R e g is F ir s t

4

2

1

1

7

T O P S C O R E R : L lo y d J e r m y (C apel F irs t)

6

MEN'SSUSSEX&HAMPSHIRE(CONT.)

HA MP S HIR E PR EMIE R F OOT B A LL LE A GUE S E NIOR DIV IS ION P

TEAM

1

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

B u s h H ill

12

10

1

1

31

2

Lock s Heath

14

8

3

3

27

3

In f in it y

12

7

5

1

26

4

F le e t la n d s

11

7

3

0

24

5

P a u ls g r o v e

8

7

1

1

22

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : M a r k B a r k e r (B us h Hill)

22

HA MP S HIR E PR EMIE R F OOT B A LL LE A GUE DIV IS ION ONE P

TEAM

1

M o n e y f ie ld s R e s e r v e s

9

8

1

0

25

2

A n d o v e r N e w S t r e e t S w ift s

10

5

2

3

17

3

D e n m e a d F .C .

8

5

1

2

16

4

S ilc h e s t e r

7

4

1

2

13

5

Har vest Home

6

4

1

1

13

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : L a m in Ja t t a (M one y field s R e s e r v e s )

10

H A M P S H I R E C O M B I N AT I O N & D E V E L O P M E N T L E A G U E P

TEAM

1

L averstock & F ord

7

4

1

2

13

2

S a lis b u r y

7

4

1

2

13

3

B e m e r t o n H e a t h H a r le q u in s

6

3

2

1

11

4

Un it e d S e r v ic e s P o r t s m o u t h

4

3

1

0

10

5

W im b o r n e To w n

5

3

0

2

9

T O P S C O R E R : J o e F r e a k (W imborne Tow n)

9

63

MEN'SLONDON, SURREY&MIDDLESEX S U R R E Y E L I T E I N T E R M E D I AT E L E A G U E P

TEAM

1

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

M e r r o w F ir s t

7

5

0

2

15

2

H o r s le y F ir s t

6

4

1

1

13

3

F a r le ig h R o v e r s F ir s t

5

4

1

0

13

4

N P L S a t u r d a y F ir s t

7

4

1

2

13

5

A F C C u b o F ir s t

5

4

0

1

12

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : M a t t h e w A d a m s (S taine s L ammas F irs t)

5

S O U T H E R N A M AT E U R F O O T B A L L L E A G U E S E N I O R D I V I S I O N 1 P

TEAM

1

P o ly t e c h n ic

6

4

1

1

13

2

W e s t W ic k h a m

5

3

2

0

11

3

A lle y n O ld B o y s

5

3

1

1

10

4

O ld O w e n s

4

3

1

0

10

5

O ld P a r k o n ia n s

5

3

0

2

9

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : Ja c k B ra d y (Poly technic)

4

S O U T H E R A M AT E U R F O O T B A L L L E A G U E S E N I O R D I V I S I O N 2 P

TEAM

1

N U F C O ile r s

7

5

0

2

15

2

C iv il S e r v ic e

5

5

0

0

15

3

O ld G a r c h o n ia n s

5

3

0

2

9

4

O ld F in c h le ia n s

5

3

0

2

9

5

Mer ton

7

2

1

4

7

T O P S C O R E R : K ie ra n P a s s e y (N U F C O ile rs )

6

64

MEN'SLONDON,SURREY&MIDDLESEX(CONT.)

A M AT E U R F O O T B A L L C O M B I N AT I O N P R E M I E R P

TEAM

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

1

O ld W o k in g ia n s

6

4

0

2

12

2

O ld M e a d o n ia n s

6

3

2

1

11

3

O ld H a m p t o n ia n s

5

3

1

1

10

4

H o n o u ra b le A r t ille r y C o m p a n y

7

2

4

1

10

5

Wandswor th B oroug h

6

3

1

2

10

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : E llis M c L e n n o n (O ld S uttonians )

8

A M AT E U R F O O T B A L L C O M B I N AT I O N S E N I O R 1 S O U T H P

TEAM

1

O ld Te n is o n ia n s

5

5

0

0

15

2

R o y a l B a n k o f S c o t la n d

6

4

1

1

13

3

H o n o u ra b le A r t ille r y C o m p a n y II

6

4

0

2

12

4

G ly n O ld B o y s

5

3

0

2

9

5

C lis s o ld P a r k R a n g e r s

6

3

0

3

9

T O P S C O R E R : A u r y n E d w a r d s (Honourable A r tille r y C ompany II)

6

M I D D L E S E X C O U N T Y F O O T B A L L L E A G U E P R E M I E R D I V I S I O N ( S AT U R D AY S ) P

TEAM

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

1

L o n d o n S a m u ra i

5

4

1

0

13

2

B rentham

4

3

1

0

10

3

P it s h a n g e r D y n a m o

4

3

0

1

9

4

In d ia n G y m k h a n a C lu b

5

2

2

1

8

5

K e n s in g t o n D ra g o n s

4

2

1

1

7

T O P S C O R E R : E C le m e n t s (B re ntham)

6

65

MEN'SBUCKS, BERKS&HERTS

T HA M E S VA LLE Y P R E M IE R LE A G UE P

TEAM

1

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

F in c h a m p s t e a d

5

3

2

0

11

2

M o r t im e r

4

3

1

0

10

3

B erk s C ounty

3

3

0

0

9

4

W ra y s b u r y V illa g e

3

2

1

0

7

5

M a id e n h e a d To w n

5

1

3

1

6

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : J o h n S w ift (B e rk s C ounty )

5

B E DF OR DS HIR E COUNT Y LE A GUE PR EMIE R DIV IS ION P

TEAM

1

E ls t o w A b b e y F ir s t

6

5

1

0

16

2

A F C O a k le y F ir s t

6

5

0

1

15

3

F lit w ic k To w n F ir s t

6

4

1

1

13

4

C ra n f ie ld Un it e d F ir s t

6

4

1

1

13

5

Q u e e n s P a r k C r e s c e n t s F ir s t

6

4

0

2

12

T O P S C O R E R : C h is o m A m a d i (A F C O ak le y F irs t)

12

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

HE R T F OR S HIR E S E NIOR COUNT Y LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

R o y s t o n To w n F C R e s e r v e s

9

7

0

2

21

2

W in g a t e & F in c h le y D e v e lo p m e n t F C W in g a t

9

6

2

1

20

3

B e ls t o n e F ir s t

6

5

0

1

15

4

B u s h H ill R a n g e r s F C F ir s t

9

4

3

2

15

5

L e t c h w o r t h G a r d e n C it y E a g le s (H S C L ) F ir

8

4

2

2

14

T O P S C O R E R : A s h le y K e r s e y (L etc hw or th G arde n C ity E ag le s )

11

MEN'SBUCKS, BERKS&HERTS(CONT.)

E A S T B ER K S F OOTB A LL LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

P h o e n ix O ld B o y s S B P h o e n ix

4

2

1

1

7

2

B r it w e ll M e n â € ™s

2

2

0

0

6

3

O ld W in d s o r F ir s t

3

2

0

1

6

4

S in g h S a b h a S lo u g h F ir s t

1

1

0

0

3

5

K S G r y f F ir s t

3

1

0

2

3

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : J o s e p h A lle n (O ld W ind s or F irs t)

5

NOR T H B UCK S & DIS T R IC T LE A GUE P

TEAM

1

G r e a t H o r w o o d F ir s t

7

6

0

1

18

2

H a n s lo p e F ir s t

6

4

2

0

14

3

P o t t e r s p u r y F ir s t

5

4

0

1

12

4

To w c e s t e r To w n F ir s t

6

3

1

2

10

5

C it y C o lt s F ir s t s

7

3

0

4

9

PLD

W

D

L

PTS

T O P S C O R E R : N ia ll D u ff y ( Towcester Town First)

12

W E S T H E R T S S AT U R D AY L E A G U E P

TEAM

1

T h e E n g in e e r F C

4

3

0

1

9

2

A p s le y A r g y le F ir s t

5

3

0

2

9

3

C r o x le y G r e e n F ir s t

4

3

0

1

9

4

C r o x le y C o m m u n it y F ir s t

4

2

1

1

7

5

K in g s S p o r t s F ir s t

4

1

2

1

5

T O P S C O R E R : Ja c k C a r t w r ig h t ( T he E ng ine e r F C )

5

SHARPSHOOTERSOFTHEMONTH CHLOEHIGHAMAFCACORNS, SOUTHEAST

MARKBARKER

Defences in the South East Counties Division One West will be pleased by a month’s break of facing Chloe Higham. The AFC Acorns striker has come out firing in 2020/21 and hit twelve goals in seven games as the Acorns sit fourth in the league, including picking up four goals in a 7-2 win over AFC Littlehampton. She struck four times in an FA Cup run which came to an end against Lancing Ladies in a penalty shootout, after Chloe had scored twice to get them back into the game.

The Hampshire Premier Football League has not hung about, playing fixtures at the weekend and midweek, and Bush Hill and Mark Barker haven’t either.

Bush Hill currently sit top with 31 points following ten wins, one draw and a loss, and in those twelve games, Barker has hit the net twenty-two times, including five against Liss Athletic.

Surely he’s got his sights set on a forty-goal season! TGP

COUNTIESWOMEN’SLEAGUEDIVISIONONEWEST

BUSHHILL, HAMPSHIRE PREMIERFOOTBALLLEAGUE

UNSUNGHEROOFTHEMONTH RONNIEDOCHERTYEARLSHALLUNITED,ESSEXFA

Ronnie Docherty is a grassroots hero. And like most selfless people, he doesn’t want a song and dance made about it. So we will.

Now fifty-one, Ronnie has taken on pretty much every role Earls Hall United have needed since leaving school. Club Secretary, Treasurer, Player, Manager, you name it. He is always putting the club first and thinking about what more he can do to support the club and the community.

During the recent half term,

Ronnie worked with club sponsor The Railway Tavern in Prittlewell to provide 300 packed lunches for children in their local area of Southend-on-Sea. A fantastic effort.

Earls Hall achieved Charter Standard last week and they couldn’t have done it without Ronnie. The club would also like to thank first team sponsor Res Tech Roofing Ltd who kindly bought them new kit and training tops, and Westcliff Dental Practice for the training tops for the Vets. TGP

League: M aid s tone & M id K e nt S unday L e ag ue

Words : S am D ix on @ samdixon1817

MYGREATESTGAME BOXLEYFC5v4SMURFIT TOWNSENDHOOK, 2006

Playing for Boxley FC was always an “experience”. It was a Sunday morning team full of mercurial talents and players that could barely kick a football. We would often turn up to matches in last night’s clobber, reeking of Oranjeboom, yet despite this we weren’t a bad side and we were working our way up through the leagues. But most importantly, we loved it. On occasion, if the night before had been a long one, or if we turned up with ten, we could get battered. On our day, though, we could beat absolutely anyone in our hometown of Maidstone, and we fancied it when we pulled Premier League team Smurfit Townsend Hook in the cup.

Named after a local paper mill, Smurfit were apparently unbeaten in about fifty years, but with the rain hammering down, it stank of an upset. Our player-manager Dave “Honk” Hool changed from our much-loved 3-6-1 formation to a sturdy 4-4-2 with myself, a sprightly lad fresh into Men’s football, and “Donkey” Craig Russell – Boxley’s all-time leading scorer up top. Honk told us to get at them, and we bloody did.

A see-saw encounter saw us trade goals throughout as we surprised our more illustrious and now-exasperated opponents. I got hacked down midway through the second half. The majority of subs, having noticed that it was a tight game and that they were unlikely to get on, had retreated to the car. The one who had braved the weather. The

one who had braved the weather came on with the first aid kit, only to find that it contained a can of lager, a can of Brut and a can of fresh car scent. So, I just got on with it.

With the game level at 3-3 I got put through in the last seconds to seal glory. Normally a decent finisher, I eyed the keeper up and completely shanked it wide just before the full-time whistle blew. Being a younger member of the team, the lads told me not to worry, that another chance would come my way in extra time. Feeling better, I was up for it, until my brother, “Square” (our keeper, named after his love of facts and pub quiz machines), came up to me and gave me an absolute beasting for missing the chance, much to the amusement of the rest of the lads.

We fell a goal behind going into the second-half of extra time when player-manager Dave Hool entered the fray. He had this knack of trundling up from left-back for corners and scoring off his shin and had recently netted a few. Amusingly, the local reporter always got his name wrong, with recent editions call-

ing him Dave Hook, Hall and Horn.

Anyway, somehow he managed to get his head onto another corner to plant it in the bottom corner.

In celebration he slid on his knees, making a “horn honking” motion in front of the subs in their cars who excitedly honked their horns in return. He’s still known as Honk to this day.

Level at 4-4 and with a ropey pen shootout record, it was now or never. I can remember this goal like it was yesterday: a terrible ball was played in straight to a defender but at the last second it kicked off the surface and he missed it. Just as he turned and the keeper came off his line I managed to get a toe poke on the ball from about fifteen yards and watched as the ball agonisingly slowed up in the rain as it reached the goal line. Luckily, it just had the legs and I was mobbed by everyone, apart from Square, within seconds. He was still annoyed that he had to stand in the rain for another half an hour.

The final whistle blew soon after and it was back to the Early Bird for six pints and a lovely roast. Football at its finest. TGP

WEGOAGAIN Massive thanks for giving us a read. Issue 2 will be in all of the same places and on grassrootspost.uk and the Matchday Digital app in January.

If you’ve got a grassroots football story that you think needs telling, feel free to email: editor@grassrootspost.uk For advertising options email: ross@grassrootspost.uk

Issue 01: Editor: Mike Backler Design: Alex Mertekis Advertising: Ross Jackson Sub Editor: Lucy Mertekis Senior Writer: David Hillier

Contributors: Vee Pandey, Morgan Allan, Sehrish Mumtaz, Andrew Martin, Charlotte Dukes, Matt Fletcher-Jones, Millie Chesters, Ollie Goodwin, Ashley Laurence, Alex Daniel & Sam Dixon

Cheers: Ollie Blake at The FA, Olaseni Norumke at London Mavericks, Mitch at SE Dons, Kirsty Mcmanus at Goals, Will Martin, Matt Cook, Ian Doughty & Drew Smith at Powerleague, Emily Harding at The Newspaper Club, Matt Beech, Mat Potiphar & Chris Hill At DS Smith, James Chadwick & Marcus Tyler at Surrey FA, Chris Evans at Essex FA, Charlie Hyman at Bloomsbury Football & Alex Burns at Lokomotiv Canterbury.

And to anyone that’s supported us with a like, a share, a contact or a bit of advice.

T W : @ G ra s s r o o t s P o s t

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