U17s players at the community-based Littleborough Junior Football Club have started the season with new home and away kits thanks to sponsorship from Bloor Homes.

The Club, which was founded in 1999 with just one team and three volunteers, has gone from strength to strength, now fielding 27 teams across 11 age groups from Under 7s to Under 17s, plus pre-school ‘Soccer School’ sessions on Saturdays from age 4.

This is a remarkable achievement for a Club that does not have its own ground, or a club house to generate revenue; instead, teams train and play on community Council-owned pitches which are booked and paid for through the Club’s voluntary committee.

Pat Rice, U17s Team Manager at the Club, said: “Littleborough Junior FC is almost a ‘virtual club’ with no space or facilities of our own, yet through the hard work and dedication from our volunteer coaches, managers and committee. We now have over 307 registered youth players across the age groups – 19 of which are in our Under 17s squad – playing football, making friends and developing lifelong skills and aptitudes, week in, week out.

“That is why the support from Bloor Homes means so much. Every two years we rely on the generosity and support of businesses nearby, like Bloor Homes, to help provide a ‘refresh’ for each age group’s kit and equipment but that also comes with its own challenges. It is great to be partnering with Bloor Homes who have sponsored the U17 kit for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 seasons.”

Since Covid, grass roots sports have been financially challenged, including finding local sponsors. The Covid-19 Recovery and the Cost of Living Crisis’ survey commissioned by the Sport and Recreation Alliance (SRA), supported by Sport:80, and conducted by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University in 2022 found that as deliverers of grass roots sports emerged from the pandemic and associated lockdowns and re-established their ability to generate income, inflation and cost of living had also meant the costs of providing sport and physical activity had risen, effectively ‘wiping out their ability to create the surpluses needed to recover their level of financial reserves or to invest in their activities to pre pandemic levels.’

The situation has not improved since the report was published, affecting the bottom line of clubs and heightening the need for more support from businesses such as Bloor Homes.

From a Club perspective, the task of finding sponsors to help fund kit and equipment falls to the team managers at Littleborough Juniors FC, who are also volunteers and have jobs and families of their own. The funding process can be lengthy, and with a 6-week lead time for new kit, it sometimes means age groups have to start the season with any new sponsored kit on the way.

But not in this case, as Pat adds: “The team at Bloor Homes has been really responsive, replying straight away and in good time so we could get the kit ordered and delivered from our supplier for the start of the season. I can’t thank them enough. We’re challenging for a top spot in the league this year and we’re really pleased to have Bloor Homes on that journey with us. We look forward to welcoming the families moving to the new Bloor Homes development to the Club should they wish to join us.”

Lucy McCabe, Sales and Marketing Director for Bloor Homes’ North West region said: “We are just launching our Hollingworth Rise, our brand new development in Littleborough, so when Pat contacted us we were interested in hearing about its community work and development.

“We are really impressed by how hard the teams work and how successful it is despite its day to day challenges. Bloor Homes has a long-standing and proud tradition of supporting the communities in which we build, in particular when it comes to grass roots sports. Littleborough Juniors FC is definitely a Club we are pleased to be associated with, and we wish them all well this season.”

Littleborough Juniors FC teams play in four competitions: North Bury Junior League, East Manchester League, Heywood Sunday League and Manchester Youth Saturday League. To find out more, visit the Club’s facebook page

To find out more about Bloor Homes’ Hollingworth Rise development of three and four bedroom family homes in Littleborough and to register to be amongst the first to receive priority information, visit bloorhomes.com

Caption: Bloor Homes funds new home and away kits for U17s at Littleborough Juniors FC