Bringing the community together at Frenford Clubs

Thanks to more than £700K investment from the Premier League, The FA and Government's Football Foundation, Frenford Clubs is a best-in-class example of working with local people to provide a quality sports facility for the whole community to access and enjoy.

Since 2018, Frenford Clubs has received significant Football Foundation funding to build a new floodlit 11v11 3G stadia pitch, refurbish two small-sided 3G pitches, purchase new goalposts and improve the grass pitches on site. This has helped enable Frenford Clubs to deliver an extensive community-focused football and multi-sport programme for people from all walks of life.

"The whole idea of Frenford is to provide a service to young people, as well as well as any parts of the community young or old. Football is a huge part of what we do to engage young people from all walks of life. It builds confidence and continuity into their lives and give them opportunities they wouldn't usually have." - Irfan Shah BEM, CEO, Frenford Clubs

Working alongside local charities, organisations and Essex FA, the 3G and grass pitch site delivers football for all ages and abilities - from grassroots to Step 6 level through Frenford FC. Not only this, Frenford Clubs offer disability and walking football provision, in addition to a range of other sports including cricket, basketball, tennis, table tennis and martial arts.

One such organisation based at the site is the Muslimah Sports Association – a charity that aims to provide an outlet for like-minded women and create a place where women are free to participate in sports without compromising their religious or cultural beliefs. Together with Frenford Clubs, they established Frenford & MSA FC. Having started out as a Friday night fitness session, the club now have teams competing in two different local leagues. 

"It feels like a safe space to play and that's really important when you're trying to engage with the community around you - it has to reflect the community around you and that's what Frenford does." - Yashmin Harun BEM, Chair & Founder, Muslimah Sports Association

As well as this, the site delivers the FA's Wildcats programme, runs a women’s flexi 11-a-side league and has a dedicated disability officer in place. Frenford also hosts young leader and youth offending programmes with local schools and FA coaching courses.