Local football helps bring communities together

The welcome I received at Coton Green Football Club in Fazeley the other evening was tremendous. I’d been invited along by the management committee to watch a presentation on how the club is growing and also listen to some problems they have with crime and vandalism.

Despite the problems, club members and players are enjoying the impressive new changing areas and meeting room facilities that were built at a cost of nearly £350,000 in 2005.

The club have 11 teams in total including three under 8s to 10s, five junior 11a sides and three adult teams totalling 167 players. So it’s a big operation now.

I was also impressed with the ethos around standards of behaviour and they’ve got some big ideas for the future. One of the key areas they want to expand is links with the community around them. That’s just what I like to hear and I will be helping them out with some funding from my County Members’ funding scheme in an effort to improve security for the club.

On another positive note I understand from police that the perpetrator(s) of the criminal damage and vandalism are now under lock and key…..I hope they stay that way for some time!

It was a lovely gesture by the club to present me with an engraved plaque to commemorate my visit as well.

Both Coton Green FC and Bellgrave Bullets FC in Mile Oak are keen to expand their clubs and I’m keen to see if any cooperation or collaboration can be looked at. The geographical locations of the two clubs mean they serve two distinct communities which works very well. When it come to the expansion of both clubs however I think they are likely to need to work in partnership to make things happen.

Click here to comment on this post