Alan Bayram was coaching an after-school football training session at a Stoke Newington primary school when a group of parents approached him about setting up a football club. A lot of privately run after-school clubs within Hackney were no longer affordable, they told Bayram. The coach at St Mary’s Church of England primary school, Bayram had personally experienced a lack of access to facilities while growing up. “That was one thing that was always in the back of my mind – that one day I would be able to create a club for everyone,” he says. And so the Hackney Borough Youth Football Club was born.
With an emphasis on making football coaching accessible, HBYFC is a grassroots club accredited to the Football Association (FA). Grassroots football – the umbrella term used to describe non-professional football that can be played by anyone anywhere – is a lifeline for many young people across the country. According to a study conducted by the FA in March 2021, over a third of children in England play football each week, improving their mental, physical and social skills. The study also set out how access to facilities is one of the biggest barriers in preventing children from being able to participate in the sport. But with a cost-of-living crisis affecting millions in the UK, people are now desperately looking for cheaper alternatives in all aspects of their families’ lives – including after-school clubs.
New HBYFC members can sign up by paying an annual £50 fee, with monthly membership priced at £25. Six and seven-year-old players train once a week on Monday, with matches on Saturdays. Players aged 10 and over train twice a week, before participating in weekly matches.
From six to 164 children, the growing attendance numbers of Bayram’s club underscore the necessity of quality football coaching for children. He says that the UK government’s announcement earlier this month that it plans to invest £600m to ensure equal access to sport will help grow the number of girls playing for his club, which is currently only 14. “We are also looking to start some training sessions for kids with disabilities, which should be up and running by the end of the year.” The recent signing of HBYFC’s 10-year-old Nathen for Charlton Athletic on a two-year contract is a testament to the positive, life-affirming impact grassroots clubs can have.
