The Sir Tom Finney Football Club in Preston operates to provide competitive football opportunities for all through structured coaching sessions. They run teams and sessions for adults and children, male and female, and have dedicated refugee and disability teams as well.

“Because of the name that we have, people thought it was gonna be an academy, but we switched it on its head, and we took all the children who weren’t deemed good enough to get into the established teams, or indeed couldn’t afford to play in the teams,” said Peter Mason, Chair of The Sir Tom Finney Football Club.

“All abilities and disabilities, pan disabilities, will come here. It’s a superb example of diversity in that everybody comes here and plays.”

The club are a long-standing member of Sported and have received funding through the Barclays Community Football Fund.

Sported helps member groups to have an impact within their communities and in the lives of those they support. Something that the Sir Tom Finney Football Club has been able to do, in particular through its disability team.

“We’re quite possibly the first time they’ve actually participated in sport with children of their own abilities, Mason continued.

“They develop, they become far more confident, far more serious in how they actually conduct themselves. Their standards of behaviour are getting better because they’re part of the team and we set rules and we’re quite strict with our rules and they love it, and their parents love it.

“Once they start participating in sport, they’re in teams, they’re playing with children their own age, they make friends, parents make friends, and then they just develop. Our ethos is all about fun.”

Speaking about the impact and importance of the club, one parent said: “My son’s got diagnosed ADHD, autism, dyslexia, depression, he’s got a lot going on. It gives him hope as well and he’s got friends here. He doesn’t have friends at school, doesn’t go out at home. He’s very vulnerable.

“There’s not many groups like this at all. We struggle to find groups, so our children love it and we love it as well. This is a place where we can be safe, and the coaches are absolutely amazing.”

As well as their disability team, the Sir Tom Finney Football Club runs a team for refugees which is for individuals who have sought asylum in the UK.

The team has been running since October 2017 as a way to ensure that football is for all, and to help refugees of different ages and nationalities to settle into the community and meet people with similar experiences.

On their experience and what they’ve gained since joining the team, one member said: “I felt everything change totally in myself since I started.

“I wasn’t very confident and I gained confidence. I wasn’t speaking English very well, but I can speak well. I can understand people. Lots of skills I gained from them.”

Find your local Sported contact and how they can support you and your group to have an impact in your community on the website here.