01/07/2026
Thirty churches across the country will be supported to start free football sessions for children as community outreach, with a focus on those in low-income areas and estates.
The Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board (SMMIB) will invest more than £320k to enable Ambassadors Football, a sports ministry charity, to facilitate the programme by training churches to coach accessible football activities.
Each session will be run by trained volunteers from the church and will include training drills and matches, as well as ‘team talks’ in breaktimes, and closing with a prayer.
The team talks will explore themes, such as teamwork or sacrifice, and how they relate to football, life and what Jesus said, as well as closing in prayer.
Several of England’s football clubs reportedly started in churches, including Everton, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspurs.
This new programme builds on existing work by Ambassadors Football, through which 42 churches already run community football outreach projects, with an average attendance of 22 children.
Half of these projects are located in low-income areas, and 70% of the participants do not otherwise attend church.
One of these churches is Inspire St James in Clerkenwell, which started free football sessions for boys and girls aged 6 to 14 from the local schools in 2013.
Two children attended the first session, one of whom was Georgie, a nine-year-old boy from the local council estate who had heard about the club at St Luke’s Church of England Primary School in Islington.
The football sessions run every Sunday at 9:30am, and the leaders invite the children to come along to church afterwards, some of which accept.
After attending football for three years and hearing the weekly ‘coaches corners’, short talks from the bible midway through the sessions, Georgie started coming to church and then committed his life to Christ, getting baptised at 14 years old.
His family have since started coming along to church too.
Now, the community football club has around 40 children on its books, and 21-year-old Georgie oversees the programme, as well as running football sessions in his old primary school.
Chris Durcan, the Children and Youth Minister at Inspire, said: “Running free football sessions in our local area has proven to be the most effective way to welcome new families and youth into the church.”
It is hoped that the new programme will enable thirty more churches around the country to have similar impact.
A new service entitled ‘Towards the Goal’ will also be piloted as part of the programme, encouraging churches to launch a football-themed new worshipping community as a pathway for families linked with the football sessions to try church.
On the announcement, the Bishop of Lancaster, Jill Duff, said “The World Cup is illustrating the beautiful way in which the beautiful game can bring communities together in times of division.
“I am already a season-ticket fan of Ambassadors Football from their stellar ministry in Lancashire, so I look forward to seeing how this new programme helps churches to unite their communities in faith and football and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with young people and their families.”
Martin Bateman, CEO of Ambassadors Football GB, said: “We are so excited to launch this programme with the Church of England, because we know that the local church is the heartbeat of Christian witness in a community.
“If we can equip and train more churches to reach out through easy-to-run football sessions, we will enable them to serve their communities in a uniquely powerful way.
“We look forward to seeing individuals discipled, churches built up and communities transformed through the power of football and the Gospel.”