Sunday league figures are falling says Kent football team coach

The participation of Sunday League football in Kent has been an issue for a number of years and the numbers illustrate it. Ian Knight, the manager of White Horse Football Club, who play in the Maidstone & Mid Kent Sunday Premiership voiced his opinion on this particular issue.

White Horse FC are a Charter Standard Club (FA accreditation), have 2 licensed FA coaches (UEFA B), have a website platform and are active on social media. Mr Knight hosts their leagues show on the weekly SELK (South East London & Kent) Podcast called “Around the Leagues” and represents the members clubs on the league committee.

He described White Horse FC as a very small community club, who have an online presence and are keen to promote community grassroots football and the great projects that they’re involved in.

Mr Knight had quite strong thoughts on the dwindling participation of Sunday League football in Kent and what the Kent FA are trying to do about it.

“This area of grassroots football has been a target by the Kent FA for a number of years.

“They have programmes such as “Grow the Game” and “Just Play”- which offer grants to support well run clubs to expand and offer more opportunities for adult players.”

The latter programme “Just Play” will be ‘in-play’ this October, as the Kent FA confirmed they will be attending White Horse FC’s training ground in October to film them.

The project has been running since March this year and has had success with additional support from Kent Sport and has enabled the club to make the session work with voluntary donation from players attending.

Mr Knight said that the sessions targets the casual footballer to just turn up and play organised football, but with no strings such as membership fees.

However, he stated despite the positive programmes Kent FA have attempted to implement, the numbers from Kent FA would support the general decline of Sunday League Football.

The Maidstone & Mid-Kent League still has a modest 29 teams involved, but this has declined from 44 since 2013/14 season. Mr Knight insisted that while the popularity of Sunday League football has increased, participation is decreasing and he puts this down to the big decline of the Saturday leagues, which used to be held in higher regard.

“Teams higher up the football pyramid still play on Saturdays (Kent League, South East Counties etc), but what I would consider amateur grassroots (e.g. community, local teams) on a Saturday have struggled.

“The Maidstone Saturday League used to have 4 leagues 15 years ago, and was the oldest football league in the country- this sadly folded in 2017 due to a lack of interest, with only 7 teams remaining.”

He puts this down to a lack of convenience for many players with families, work and other commitments on a Saturday afternoon. Therefore, the popularity of Sunday football has benefitted from this as generally it’s not a day of work for many and morning games allow a more social time for people to be away from families/partners.

The popularity of Sunday league has been of a national rise, with the London based SE Dons, who are billed as the biggest Sunday League team in the country, regularly get hundreds of thousands of views on their YouTube channel and have appeared on Sky Sports about what they’ve been doing.

Mr Knight said: “The standard of the football has increased as a result and teams find it much easier to promote themselves and create a positive brand.

“The sharing of information through websites and social media is big news, including filming of matches, video clips, photos and podcasts.”

White Horse FC are one of many clubs to have benefitted from this and have already been invested in by three main sponsors, Hovis Bakery (provides all kit and training kit), Aqua Air Conditioning (purchases training equipment) and Fox & Goose (all post-match/training catering).

Mr Knight believes investment into the club has allowed the club to become more involved in the community.

He said: “A lot of clubs now have access to excellent facilities, good pitches and can now offer a more family approach to football. White Horse FC host regular charity, fundraising and social events, which allows players and their families to all feel part of the club.

Mr Knight went on further: “Being well supported financially allows us to keep our costs down, but I have to say not everyone is in this position.

“Many clubs have seen an increase in costs, which is another factor in the decreasing numbers for participation, as costs go up, it’s less affordable for many.”