Category: News

Street Soccer London’s adult football programme has started at the Black Prince Trust in Lambeth.

The free football session, which take place every Monday from 3:00-5:00pm, is part of our wide-ranging programmes to bring the local community together through sport.

In partnership with Quay Health Solutions, our first few sessions have seen a collective mix of nationalities and cultures, where football has been the common language.

The aim of our adult programme is to support the mental health of all participating players, allowing them to connect with new people in a safe environment. Street Soccer believes that football has the power to change lives and all of our sessions are open to new players, regardless of their experience in playing football.

Programme manager Craig McManus highlighted that the lived experience of staff members at SSL will be key to progressing the programme and supporting players on their journey for positive change.

“Our new adult drop-in session is the perfect example of the support that Street Soccer can provide. Our player pathway has meant that former players Frankie and Marc have been able to lead on this session with other former players Ethan and James assisting them.

Both Marc and Frankie are able to lean on their own experience of hardships to help new players settle in to the programme. That level of trust is significant and we believe that football has a unique way of breaking down barriers.”

This session, which takes place at our base in Lambeth, is the first step for players in building the foundations for a more positive future. By engaging with Street Soccer, you can open up a wider network for support as well as being part of a caring community that will always put their players first.

If you would like to learn more on how you can engage in our adult football programme, please contact Craig on craig@streetsoccerlondon.org or Laura on laura@streetsoccerlondon.org

Street Soccer have an exciting new vacancy to lead on our new women’s only programme in Hounslow. We are looking for enthusiastic coaches who are keen to use the power of football to make positive change in the community.

Our Street45 programme aims to engage women with no previous experience of football and re-engage those who have not been able to take part by combining football, fitness and social connection activities. Our model has been run throughout Scotland, addressing low levels of female participation in mixed drop-in sessions with great success, seeing a 300% increase in participation in 2020.

Street45 aims to engage women who might be socially isolated, excluded or struggle with mental health, to create connections and networks of support. We will create a strong and supportive team within a safe environment. Sessions being women-led is key to this, not only helping keep spaces safe for women but also helping break down gender-barriers and increasing empowerment.

Our sessions will target socially excluded women over 18. Different forms of social exclusion may include homelessness, addiction, mental health issues, as well as social isolation. Our team are vastly experienced in supporting women facing these challenges, with our staff having lived experience and having managed Team England’s Women’s Team at 3 Homeless World Cups. Our focus on connection and building relationships through a person-centred, relational approach, means we can effectively tackle issues such as social isolation.

Street45 will comprise weekly 90 minutes sessions with 45 mins football and fitness ad 45 mins social connection and support. Sessions will be led by a female head coach with the support of volunteers.

We plan to create a pathway for women to further develop their football through volunteering with us and helping to run sessions, and following pathways into coaching, refereeing and volunteering. We are able to do this through our partnerships with QPR and Brentford. This will enable progression from grassroots football, with the support of Street Soccer London. It will also enable us to create our future leaders. Lived experience is central to Street Soccer and over 60% of our staff team have lived experience. We support players along a pathway through volunteering, education, sessional work and employment and would love for participants of this sessions to become leaders.

We will tackle barriers to participation for women and support individuals to overcome any social and emotional barriers they may face. We want to tackle stigma wherever we find it, in perceptions of addiction and homelessness, mental health and womens engagement in sport.

Street Soccer London has also taken on Team England for the Homeless World Cup and would work with eligibly players to progress to this opportunity. Women experiencing homelessness and social marginalisation could have the opportunity to train and connect with people with similar experiences from across the country and represent their country at an international tournament in 2022.

Interested candidates can learn more about the role by contacting Craig McManus on craig@streetsoccerlondon.org

Street Soccer London is pleased to welcome the announcement from the Homeless World Cup Foundation around the return of the competition in 2022.

This years tournament will take place in New York with Street Soccer USA. Street Soccer London’s Team England are due to take place in their first World Cup as part of the Street Soccer family.

More information around the event will be announced in due course, with venue and specific dates in September still to be decided.

We look forward to working with our amazing partners across the globe in bringing together players for a special experience.

Street Soccer London players had a memorable experience at Crystal Palace’s Academy Training Ground this past weekend, taking part in Palace for Life’s PL Kicks tournament.

Palace for Life, the clubs community arm, kindly invited Street Soccer along on Saturday as part of the Premier League’s youth initiative. Players were in awe of the brand new facilities which opened earlier this year and with category A status is one of the best in the UK.

Street Soccer entered three teams in to the tournament and won top prize in both the under 16 and under 18 age group. Programme coordinator, Jack Badu, said that the experience was important for the players.

“We had players along from both our FAST and Black Prince Trust sessions and it was a really great way to end the year for them. It’s one of the best places I have ever been too and the boys had a good time engaging with both Palace for Life and the Met Police Taskforce both on and off the pitch.”

There was memorable success for the coaches too as new sessional worker Jose, at his first event with Street Soccer, won the under 16 trophy with one of the squads.

We thank Palace for Life for their invite as we look forward to working together in the community again soon.

Street Soccer London are on the lookout for new coaches!

As we near the end of what has been a very challenging yet successful year, we are now in a position to grow our team.

We are looking to recruit:

• Adult Programme Coordinator
• Sessional Youth Coaches

If you are passion about helping others and have experience in supporting young people or adults, we’d love to hear from you.

At Street Soccer, we aim to use the power of sport to enable individuals to make more positive choices in their life. Both roles would be primarily based out of our office at the Black Prince Trust in Lambeth, however would involve work in other areas across London.

Our Adult Programme Coordinator is a brand new role with some exciting opportunities. The role will help grow our newly formed adult sessions, which are structured to give players a sense of security and belonging whilst sharing a passion for football. This role will also involve opportunities with Team England as part of the Homeless World Cup tournaments.

You can read the full job description, here.

As a sessional worker, you will work closely with a players 16 and under throughout the week. A sports coaching background is not compulsory, with an increasing focus on our support services throughout the community.

If you are interested in either roles, please contact Craig McManus at craig@streetsoccerlondon.org with your CV and a cover letter.

Street Soccer London were proud to host our very first Winter Cup last week, as over 120 kids came together to enjoy a five-a-side tournament in Lambeth.

Consisting of group stages and tiered knockouts, 17 teams arrived at the Black Prince’s Trust in high spirits. Although this was first taste of competitive football in a while for some, the vibrant atmosphere remained at the forefront as Street Soccer players engaged with teenagers across the city, making new friends in the process.

Street Soccer staff were on hand to ensure all of the teams across both the boys and girls competitions felt welcome and safe. Big well done to our winning teams who picked up their trophies across the various knockout competitions.

Rockingham FC claimed glory in the boys ‘Champions League’ knockouts, with FAST winning the ‘Europa League’ tier. Street Soccer London entered three teams across the day and one of which secured silverware in the ‘Conference League’ boys knockouts.

In the girls event, Fulham FC Foundation and Chelsea FC Foundation won the ‘Champions League’ and ‘Europa League’ trophies, respectively.

This event was a great opportunity for our players to interact with new friends across London and raised good awareness for our programmes taking place in Lambeth and Nine Elms.

Drop-in sessions are available across the week with Adult drop ins and Girls U16 sessions starting to gain momentum on Fridays. For more information, click here.

We thank all the teams who joined us on the day to celebrate our first ever small-sided football event, we look forward to engaging with everyone again in the near future.

We are delighted to be launching our women’s football programme, Street45, in Hounslow.

Our Street 45 programme is structured to appeal to female players using ‘football themed’ exercise and aerobic sessions. 

Sessions are broken down into two halves – 45 minutes of fitness, followed by 45 minutes of personal development. 

Our female staff offer peer support and mentoring, and we also offer players the opportunity to take part in first aid, sports coaching and CV workshops. All sessions are open to anyone 18+ and no experience or fitness require. The programme is fun and inclusive, and its not just limited to football either!

Taking place every Wednesday from 1 to 2:30pm, sessions will be delivered at Heston Pools & Fitness by our new programme coordinator Sophia.

Contact Craig to get involved, on craig@streetsoccerlondon.org.

Location: Heston Pools & Fitness, New Heston Road, Hounslow, TW5 0LW

Passionate about helping others, Matthew joined Street Soccer with an impressive coaching portfolio, quickly becoming a friendly face for players across our London sites.

Previously employed by Crystal Palace as a performance coach, Matthew worked closely with a variety of age groups, both male and female, to ensure that the Eagles were producing top talent across the academy and first team. Matthew points to his time with the club’s first team as a great learning experience, where he specialised in data analysis and opponent analysis to help advise the Premier League coaching staff.

The experience in that environment has given Matthew a great insight in to the key factors in developing young talent and the dynamics which are important in creating a positive atmosphere for players. Now in his fifth month at Street Soccer, Matthew is responsible for all football activities such as the delivery of tournaments and sessions across multiple sites.

“I want the players to know the skills and attributes that they learn through football can be transferrable into everyday life. I like to use communication as the best example of this, we try and show the players that building that communication with players and staff can help them on their journey moving forward.”

Matthew highlights that despite his on-pitch influence with the players, he enjoys building relationships with them off the park. Looking to pass on his knowledge, the Street Soccer coach emphasised that a lot of the younger boys are always looking to learn about the game and where they can improve.

Street Soccer maintain a player first ethos and this has been something that Matthew has ensured is clear in his coaching. As lead coach for their first 11-a-side tournament together at the 32 Boro Cup, Matthew said; “My favourite memory so far has to be the training and workshops leading up the 32 Boro Cup, the excitement around the team was brilliant. Getting the players together and to bond as a team was a special moment. It was great to see them all making new friends and building new relationship with other players.”

Great to have you on board, Matthew!