❤️ Message received from a Parent ⤵️ 🗣️I've been meaning to write this for weeks but every time I start I end up getting emotional. A few weeks ago my son played his last game for his junior club and, if im honest, I dont think its fully sunk in yet. He started grassroots football at 9 years old and now he's 16. Somewhere between those years of muddy boots, freezing Sunday mornings, lost kit, car journeys and standing on the touchline in the rain, a little boy grew up. Football changed him. Like a lot of boys, he had a temper when he was younger. He'd get frustrated, upset with himself and sometimes carry things around with him. Football gave him somewhere to put all that energy. It taught him discipline, respect, resilience and how to keep going when things didnt go his way. But this post isnt really about him. Its about the coaches. The volunteers. The people who give up evenings after work, weekends with thier own families and countless hours of thier lives so kids can play football. People see a coach for 90 minutes on a matchday. What they dont see is everything else. The planning, the messages, organising pitches, sorting kit, dealing with problems, encouraging kids when confidence is low and picking them back up when things havent gone to plan. Without those people my son would not be where he is today. Not even close. I've read so many stories over the years about pushy parents and touchline drama and trust me, we've seen our fair share of it. Parents shouting instructions, parents arguing, parents living through thier children. Sometimes it was hard to watch. My approach was always simple. Let him play. Let him enjoy it. Let him make mistakes. Let him decide what he wanted from football. Because at the end of the day, its thier journey, not ours. What always stood out to me was how much difference encouragement made. A coach believing in a child can honestly change everything. Sometimes one kind word at the right time can keep a kid playing when they were thinking about giving up. My son is now doing really well and looking forward to A levels, and of course im incredibly proud of him. But I know none of it happens without grassroots football. So from one very grateful mum, thank you.

🎙️"𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥" Take a bow Mark Allen. Fantabulous.

The World Health Organisation classifies firefighting as a carcinogenic occupation. In Canada and Australia, if a firefighter gets cancer, they are compensated, leaving them to fight the cancer, not fight for their family's security. It's time the UK caught up.

One of the most popular tools in football and rugby clubs - perfect for grants too! Find out more sisis.com/quadraplay Get in touch if you need any advice #sisis

GOALL CAM LANCASTER ⚽️ Come on Nelson 🔵⚪️🔵⚪️ 🔵2-0⚪️ 45'

Goallllll Cam Lancaster on his debut⚽️ 1-0 23' 🟡⚫️🟡⚫️

It's #GroundsWeek! 🌿 Big shout-out to the people who make pitches look good without making a fuss.

Who do you think is deserving of a thank you? Who is deserving of an award nomination? Nominate them for a Red Rose Award today! 🏆🌹 bit.ly/40iT0my

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The biggest of best lucks to former Wolves player, Zara Musker, today, as she leads the England's Deaf Women's Team in the European Finals against Poland! Watch it live on YouTube at 4pm: m.youtube.com/watch?v=-g2BxA… We are so proud of you and the whole team 🐺🩷 #3

We are recruiting! 🩷🐺 - Open Age (16 ) - U18s - Recreational 💬DM for more information!

"This time next year Rodney " #stscratchsday

Summer grassroots football plan after 21,800 games cancelled bbc.in/472Cxqo

ICYMI 🎉 It's time to say thanks to all the volunteers who make grassroots football happen across Lancashire... The Red Rose Awards nomination window is open! Who do you know who gives their time and energy? Nominate them for an award today! 🏆🌹 bit.ly/40iT0my

🟥 Accreditation 🟥 Congratulations to the 4⃣1⃣ clubs who have renewed their accreditation during Week 19 of the window! #getaccredited #stayaccredited

Nobody teaches you how to stand on a touchline. There’s no handbook for it, no course that prepares you for what it feels like to watch your child play or not play. Mark: “Which number’s your son?” Sarah: “The one on the bench, the one who never really gets a game, only when we’re up by a huge score.” Mark: “Ah. Well… it’s competitive, isn’t it? Best players play, that’s sport and life for you.” Sarah: “He trains every week, never misses and we only live five minutes away. All his friends are here, he doesn’t want to leave.” Mark: “If he’s good enough, he’ll force his way in.” Sarah: “He’s nine?” (A goal goes in. Cheers from the touchline.) Mark: “That’s what I’m talking about! Movement and desire boys! That’s how we WIN games.” Sarah: “He laid his kit out last night, couldn’t sleep. He adores this team, being with his friends but just wants a chance?!” Mark: “You can’t give everyone equal minutes. That’s not real football and we need to look after our best players before they leave. This league title is in our grasp, it’s ours to lose..” Sarah: “At this age, what is real football? A league table? A trophy in February?” Mark: “It teaches them standards, how to win, what’s sport if we don’t win? If you can’t handle it you need to find a new team.” Sarah: “So does taking part, making mistakes on the pitch instead of watching them from a bench and actually learning, don’t you think?” Mark: “Football’s tough, you need to find a B Team or find another sport maybe?” Sarah: “Life’s tough enough, this was meant to be the safe place.” (Pause. Her son claps loudly as his team score again without him) Sarah: “Look at him, still cheering like he’s played every minute.” Mark: “Maybe he just needs to be patient and grab his chance when it comes.” Sarah: “Maybe the adults need to be more patient and he’s only played 10 minutes this season, as he’s usually not picked to attend games.” (Final whistle. Players run off celebrating.) Sarah: When they’re sixteen, do you think they’ll remember today’s score? Or how they felt not being selected or just remember being sat on the bench?

Unfortunately circumstances have changed and it’s time for me to find a new club. Feel free to direct message me. A few highlights from this season so far, also⚽️ Shares would be appreciated! #northwestcounties #northernprem

🌈 @clitheroewolves

🗣️All grassroots clubs So the art to good grounds keeping during the wet winter months is putting pitch playability & pitch safety first ahead of pitch presentation Some weeks repairing as many pitch divots as possible is the best thing to do when trying to get the games on😅👍

Quick reminder: clubs and leagues don’t call games off for fun. These decisions are made by volunteers, not weather wizards standing on pitches all night. They’re based on inspections, local knowledge and forecasts — not blind optimism. If a pitch is already waterlogged and more rain is coming, it’s not “being negative” to accept reality. Calling games off early avoids wasted journeys, referee issues and turning up to pitches that are clearly unplayable. Hoping it magically drains overnight doesn’t make it so. Grassroots football survives on goodwill. Maybe direct the frustration at the weather, not the people giving up their time to keep the game running.