About Us

The club is run locally, with residents delivering coaching sessions on a weekly basis and acting as managers for each team within the club.  The club started in October 2001 with one age group (u12’s), and now boasts 6 age groups.  The ongoing development of the club has been made possible by the commitment and loyalty of local residents and their enthusiasm to sustain our clubs’ growing reputation on and off the pitch.  Initially we entered competitions on a friendly basis, taking part in the Greater Manchester Federation of Clubs for Young People tournaments, and progressed to entering our teams into structured football within the Tameside Football League where we compete weekly. The forthcoming season will see the club represented in both the Tameside & Stockport Metro Junior Football Leagues. Our aim is to continue delivering football opportunities for residents of Hattersley, whether it is in the capacity of player or a volunteer.  We access excellent training facilities and continue to support our volunteers by way of gaining their Coaching Awards from the Football Association, thus providing them with the means of delivering safe and effective football sessions.

In 2004 Hattersley Football Club successfully gained the F.A Charter Standard award. The Charter Standard Scheme is the best practice guide that sets standards of coaching, administration and child protection for clubs working with young people. As a benchmark for quality, it will improve the playing experience for all.

Hattersley Football Club encourages local residents to get involved irrespective of their football knowledge or expertise in coaching.  We have developed many initiatives within our club including a Child Protection Policy and a Volunteer Agreement.  The Volunteer Agreement outlines what we expect from our volunteers and what they expect from the club in order to deliver effective ways of working with young people.  The club has a Committee to assist and implement the above documents and procedures.  All potential coaches are advised to attend the FA Level One Coaches Award as a priority and any other workshops that are available to the club to underpin our knowledge of working with young people.

This season the club have age groups consisting of u10’s, u11’s, u12’s, u15’s, u17’s boys & a Veterans side. The 2007/08 season will see new teams at Under 8’s and Under 9’s. At the moment the club does not have any girls teams but we are working towards this and are aware that this is an area that needs addressing.  Currently we have 150+ young people involved in our club training and competing in structured football on a weekly basis.  There are also around 20 adult volunteers involved in our clubs’ activities in one way or another.  These young people are disadvantaged because of our geographical position.  Hattersley is an overspill estate in Tameside and facilities on our estate have always been limited, preventing young people from getting involved.  Hattersley has been identified as one of the most deprived areas in the country and has recently been identified as one of the 20 Pathfinder areas in the country and has Neighbourhood Management status. The club has recently been part of a succesfull application to The Football Foundation, enabling funding to be secured, creating the Ken Ward Sports Centre, comprising of 2 grass pitches, 2 rubber crumb astro-turf pitches, changing & shower facilities, car parking, and landscaping. The centre opened in September 2006 and has created a permanent home for Hattersley Football Club. The funding has also enabled 1 full time, & 1 part time Football Development Officers to be employed within the Hattersley neighbourhood.

The club has the ability to provide football opportunities in a safe environment with local residents gaining capacity to deliver football training sessions and structured football.  They will continue to experience the benefits of being involved with an organised local project.  Our club members will improve their skills and co-ordination and realise the importance of teamwork.  They will learn how to respect themselves and others through participation.  The young people will experience contact with other young people who have similar aims and objectives.  The benefit of improving their stamina levels increases the level of self-esteem and contributes to their confidence.  They will enjoy new social status where they have equal opportunities to contribute and participate alongside the more privileged young people.

Young people are involved in coaching some of the sessions. Two of these volunteers are already qualified football coaches.