Looking For Your Local Team?

With the summer drawing slowly to a close fro some people there is little to look forward to, except for one thing. Autumn in England means the glorious start to local football leagues.

The summer conversations with pals are put to the test, remember those ‘I used to play for Arsenal as a kid' comments.

Well starting from now you can see what your drinking or work friends can actually do on the field.

The north and eastern area of London offers a wide range of teams for all ages and cultures. Men and women’s leagues covering both midweek and weekend football.

The two that I am focusing on in this article are the Islington Midweek League and the Hackney and Leyton Sunday League.

The Islington Midweek league was started way back in the 70’s and has enjoyed a steady flow of teams, which has now grown into a four division league with ten teams in each league and four cups up for grabs as well.  A majority of all games are played in Market Road artificial pitches next to Caledonian Park.

The second of the two leagues is the Hackney and Leyton League  which is played on Hackney Marshes on a Sunday. Despite losing a large section of these playing fields to become a coach park for the 2012 Olympics, this league is still plentiful of players and teams with over a 100 local teams playing over the weekend.

In Clissold park on Saturday mornings 10 - 11.30 in conjunction with Leyton Orient Football Club Coaching in the Community initiative, qualified and approved football coaches offer a great opportunity for kids from 5 to 12 years who are interested in playing football and developing skills. Just turn up, £2 contribution for each child per session. Meet on the field on the Green Lanes side of the Park, near to the Park Lodge gate and the lakes (north end of Park).Teams also for under 9's, under 10's and under 11's who play in a Sunday league and have links with the Leyton Orient FC Advanced School.

There are a number of other formal and semi formal football sessions in the Park and if you are interested to join in with any of them, probably the best thing to do is just go and ask the players.

Not forgetting all those female football stars out there, the Greater London Womens Football League is flourishing at the moment with local teams of Hackney WFC and also Leyton FC Ladies being your local club see for more details.

Whilst researching this article I have noticed the difficulty in finding my local teams, so my advice to any budding footballers is to get into contact with the Football Association and ask for a list of your local teams and go a watch them, the last thing anybody wants is to be in a team that plays to a different level than you are happy with. Your enjoyment and enthusiasm may dwindle if you’re playing at a high level for you skills or also if the team cannot achieve the level of football you can play to.

The other helpful site was Gumtree websites, these regularly have teams advertising for players and coaches wanted. This can be a stress free way of re-kindling your amateur footballing career.

Once you have selected the team you believe play to your style then approach the manager or club captain and offer your services. Chances are that no team will turn you away and will ask you to attend the next training session.