Who are we?

Longfleet Football Club has over 400 players with ages ranging from 4 to adult. It prides itself on being a diverse and inclusive club.

First and foremost Longfleet FC aims to offer all members of our club enjoyment. For players that comes in the form of exercise and a chance to improve their playing ability, all within a safe, learning and encouraging environment, free from the pressure that a win at all costs approach always brings. Our win is a development at all costs attitude.

We strongly believe in the long-term development of players on and off the pitch, not only as players but as people as well. The objectives of the Club are to develop players of all abilities in accordance with The FA/Longfleet FC policies. 

We will:  

• Ensure a duty of care to all members. 
• Provide all services in a way that is fair to everyone. 
• Ensure present and future members receive fair and equal treatment.

Football has so much to offer. At our club we endeavour to create and facilitate a positive atmosphere with the ambition to breed confidence and self-esteem in our players. This is the optimum way they can achieve their full potential and be the best that they choose to be. We do our best to keep the costs involved to a minimum, so that participation and inclusion is not restricted to financial circumstances.

Football is an extremely passionate game even at a grassroots level and there are moments when we can all find it difficult to contain our emotions. However, at Longfleet FC we strive to encourage each other as managers and parents to promote fair play, respect and teamwork and to show a good example to the players playing the game on the pitch.

In order to achieve our aims and continue to attract players, volunteers and sponsors we realise that the reputation of the club as a whole is of the utmost importance. The good name of Longfleet Football Club is something to be proud of. It is the responsibility of all those associated with the club to uphold the values that are so important to our continued success.

“EVERYBODY that is part of our TEAM has the right to LEARN, be SAFE and ENJOY themselves.”

Why are we crowdfunding?

Football helps to connect people, learn new skills and be active. This is underpinned by our fantastic coaches and volunteers giving their valuable time on a voluntary basis. In return, we want to fully support our coaches as best we can by continuing to pay for all coaching courses, including FA safeguarding, emergency first aid and coaching courses, and also continue to pay for all volunteer DBS checks.

Next season we will have a minimum of 26 teams training and playing in various leagues, but we want this to rise as we want to increase the number of football opportunities in all of our female, mixed, youth, adult and disability sectors of the club.

We want (and need) to ensure that we have all the right equipment and the budget for the necessary courses and new replacement kits for all club volunteers (after the launch of our new Joma kit in this current season). Just one members kit costs over £100 so you can why we need to fundraise! We have over 90 volunteers!

We need to ensure that we are a sustainable club who are able to meet the needs of increased participation for years to come, whilst always trying to keep players membership fees as low as possible. We don't want cost to a barrier to accessing sport.

How we’ll spend the money raised

Train existing and new coaches to ensure we are able to cope with the increased demand. Newly trained coaches will be mentored by coaches with greater experience (who also provide their time for free!) Each FA Introduction to Football course costs £100, safeguarding and first aid courses cost £30, and DBS checks cost £10 per member and these all need to be updated on a regular basis.

Renew and buy new volunteer member kits - each kit costing over £100 as we want to continue to ensure we demonstrate a clear identity for the club and all volunteers feel included and valued.

Keep player monthly subscriptions as low as possible to ensure that cost is never a barrier for participation.

Continue to offer free football sessions to all Longfleet Juniors (ages U5 and U6). This is our dedication to provide football for the community and encourage our youngest rising football stars to fall in love with the game in a safe and secure environment.

Create additional football opportunities in our female, male, youth, adult and disability sectors, so that ALL players no matter what age, gender or ability can access football at Longfleet. 

Community impact

Longfleet are a 'community club' through and through, and have been since we started in 1988! 

We have many generations of the same family now playing at the club and want to ensure that this can continue with new members joining. We have players that started in our Longfleet Juniors (when they could only just walk and were as tall as a football itself) that now play in the Longfleet adult teams. This demonstrates that we are a well respected club that can support and develop players from youth through to adult football.

We have always provided free football to our youngest players demonstrating our commitment to the community.

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – Email Kirsty on [email protected] for further information.  It could be a cake sale, a sponsored penalty shoot out for your team, a sponsored walk, or anything you think could be a fun idea to help our cause!