Football For Fun - kickabout intro to VMFC!

Thank you for expressing an interest in joining Village Manchester FC, the UK’s largest gay and inclusive football club. As you know, we haven’t been taking on new players so far this season as we’ve been oversubscribed. However, we have launched a new initiative, Football For Fun.

Last week's session was a great success with a dozen new players joining us, some of whom have already played 11-a-side at the weekend. This week, it's back on Wednesday.

Football For Fun is an hour-long session at 7pm every Wednesday at our training ground, Trinity Sports Centre. In line with the club’s founding principles, Football For Fun is intended to be an LGBTQ+ space, where gay and bisexual men and male-identifying people of any ability can have a kickabout in an environment free of judgment or harassment. Straight allies will also be welcomed to this session, on the same conditions of respect and tolerance that we ask of all our players. The rules of Football For Fun are simple: turn up, take a bib, play a game for an hour. We ask you to be supportive and encouraging of each other – this is a safe space for all abilities to have a kickabout and have fun, and it’s not about winning or losing.

Football For Fun is not part of the VMFC competitive team structure and does not guarantee you an automatic route to progress to the competitive side of the club. If that is all you’re after you may be disappointed, as we cannot promise that a suitable team slot will arise over the season. However, there may still be a pathway into the competitive structure for players from Football For Fun. If one of our team managers needs a new player for their squad and identifies you as somebody they think would be a good fit, they may approach you and ask you to move to their training squad instead of the Football For Fun session - and players at Football For Fun will take priority over people who haven't attended. The choice of whether you move over is entirely yours – we understand that not every player wants the pressure of a competitive environment, and many people want to join VMFC as much for the social side as the football.

Your first two Football For Fun sessions will be free. After that there will be a charge of £5 per session, or £15 per month if you plan to attend three or more sessions. This is a special rate for this new initiative and does not include our usual training or games. Our chair, James, will be there this Wednesday to say hello, hand out the bibs, and maybe join in if there’s space for him to play! We have a maximum of eighteen places available, so get your name down ASAP if you’re interested.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/football-for-fun-tickets-209192278737