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A local social football team scored a major goal for mental health last season, generating £2,500 for charity - and it's hoping to do even more good in the community this season with a new partnership with Mind.
Wednesday Night FC - which invites islanders of all abilities for a kickabout, no matter their skill or level of commitment - began their new season of drop-in training sessions last week for a new season of friendly matches, in aid of Mind Jersey.
The club, started by passionate football fan Adam Grocott, began from an idea in 2016 just as he was going to become a father.
Pictured: Wednesday Night FC was first set up in 2016 by Adam Grocott (left).
With all the responsibilities that fatherhood and family life was going to entail, the football fan in Adam was left with a question: "How can I get my football fix without committing and joining a full on eleven-a-side club?"
In the middle of that year, he set up weekly indoor five-a-side matches at Grainville School, establishing it as a no-pressure space where people could come along, do drills and simply enjoy a kick-about, without needing to be involved in a league or commit themselves.
"It was just me and a few other mates from work and friends from outside," Adam explained.
"We all loved football, but what we couldn't do was we couldn't go to a club and commit to the level that they would want us to, and similarly we didn't want to go to a club that would then depend on us, require us for training twice a week and then give up a Saturday afternoon."
Over time, he described how the club "naturally evolved" and the number of people looking for a pressure-free football night to look forward to grew to around 20 on the email list, which they could juggle depending on who was available on what night - it also tied in perfectly to the club's idea that no-one need worry about not making a session.
"You’re probably going to have someone’s girlfriend’s birthday, someone’s wife’s birthday, someone’s got a parents evening - you’re always going to have those naturally occurring barriers that say I can’t make it next week," he said.
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However, in 2020 lockdown prevented the five-a-sides nights from happening, leaving the players at the club with a hole in their calendar where the event they had looked forward to each week had sat.
"All of our lads in the WhatsApp group [were saying] I just really miss the football, I really miss that Wednesday Night FC kickabout," Adam noted.
This was when he began touting the idea of perhaps doing some outdoor friendly eleven-a-side matches following restrictions easing.
He reached out to members of the football community to do friendlies, crediting David Kennedy, CEO of the Jersey Football Association, for immediately encouraging the idea.
This was then backed further by Michael McKinlay at St John's FC, who was "instrumental" in setting up the club's first ever friendly against St John's FC.
Following this, the club began playing even more friendlies against clubs such as Jersey Athletic Rugby Club, Portuguese United and Funktion Fitness, all of whom Adam said offered "great support" to the idea too.
Pictured: Last year, the club started branching out into eleven-a-side matches. (Sportsplex Media)
At this point, at the request of a club member who had the cause close to their heart, WNFC also decided to start supporting Mind Jersey, with the event against Funktion Fitness raising money for the charity.
"When I reached out to Mind Jersey and said, 'We've got this sum of money, what would you do with it?', they started explaining to us that they would use it to support their peer support," Adam said.
As he began speaking with a worker at the charity, they pointed out to him that what WNFC did actually was similar to the Mind's peer support work, offering a reason to get out of the house and the chance to connect with others.
With the club making weekly donations to Mind, he has adopted core tenets of the charity for the club itself, putting front and centre the importance of "connecting with others, learning new skills, being active, taking notice, and giving back."
We’re just going to put this here and tell everyone that we’re Jersey’s only charity football club.............whilst we still can #MayHaveStartedSomething pic.twitter.com/1NreAeuv2B
— Wednesday Night FC (@officialwnfc) June 14, 2021
Now, a year on from this first foray into eleven-a-side, the club are gearing up for a new season - however, Adam made clear that he wants to preserve the club's ethos of there being no pressure and keeping it outside any Jersey league.
Indeed, part of the uniqueness of Wednesday Night FC is the aim to have absolutely everyone get a shot on the pitch - even if that sometimes means the games become a little harder.
"We always make substitutions because we guarantee everyone at least 45 minutes. There's no point bringing someone up for a game of eleven-a-side if you're not giving them at least half a match," Adam remarked.
Pictured: Adam praised the club's "brilliant" manager, Glenn Le Moignan.
He added that even with the strategic difficulties this presents, "the result doesn't matter," as it's all about making sure it's worth the time for everyone to come down - he praised the team's manager, Glenn Le Moignan, for being "superb" at managing this element.
He used the example of a recent goal a WNFC player scored, who then went home and showed it to his daughter "like twenty times" to illustrate the joy this inclusiveness brings.
"People always deserve and need to feel special - everyone has that right - and if we can do that at Wednesday Night FC without any pressure and use football to do it, then that's brilliant."
Pictured: The club will be playing a new season of friendlies, starting from Sunday 3 October.
Throughout last season, the club managed to raise £2,500 for Mind - a figure Adam hopes will be surpassed this season, with a weekly financial commitment to the charity to support its peer support programme.
As well as having an impact in the local community, the club have even attracted international attention.
A group of Chicago women called 'The Plastiques' took a shine to the club's distinct pink kit, leading them to buy their own shirts.
Adam says he's hoping they'll be buying the updated kits they're planning to get, with the Mind Jersey logo incorporated.
For anyone who wants to join the club, which has a general demographic bracket of 18-50 year old men, Adam said to simply contact them on their social media Instagram or Twitter pages.
The drop-in Wednesday night sessions have now begun, with the first match scheduled against 'FC McKinlay of St John' for Sunday 3 October.
"We've got our eight matches all organised on the first Sunday of every month... but it's just knowing that for lads that want it, you can come every week, you can pay your £5, you can have your kick-about and if you want to, we've then got a game on a Sunday," he said.
"Stick something on your calendar and have something to look forward to."
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