Under 21s
Bridging the gap
Staffordshire FA wants to support young players move from youth football into adult open age football.
Local Saturday & Sunday Leagues across Staffordshire provide open age football games for thousands of players every weekend in the county. Players can compete in open age football from the age of 16.
Clubs, schools, colleges and universities also provide opportunities in a range of formats for players aged 16-21 of all abilities to play football.
What’s more, Staffordshire FA support a number of small sided leagues across the county for young players that want to stay in the game, but may not want to get into 11v11 adult football just yet.
From Football College Schemes to open age County Leagues, find out how you can get involved here.
Staffordshire hosts three U21's leagues in the county which receive direct support from the County FA.
GET IN TOUCH
Staffordshire FA
E-mail: support@staffordshirefa.com
Office hours:
Mon - Thurs: 9:00 - 17:00
Fri: 9:00 - 16:00
Staffordshire Under 21 Leagues
Bilston Partnership Youth League
Secretary: Mrs Diane Smallman
E-mail: diane906@btinternet.com
Usual matchdays: Sunday
Lichfield and Walsall District Sunday League
Secretary: Mr Thomas Hall
E-mail: halls-2@sky.com
Usual matchdays: Sunday
Potteries Junior Youth League
Secretary: Mr Derek Herrell
E-mail: derek_herrell@msn.com
FULL-TIME: Fixtures and League Tables
Usual matchdays: Saturday and Sunday
Jumping the Gap
Moving young people from a youth environment to an adult competition is a challenge for all sport.
In football the need for support in this area is underlined by the fact that player participation in football halves from 52% of the population in the 13–15 age range to 26% when they are 17–18.
The challenge for football is that this drop off can simply be for ’ life’ reasons – starting work, university, socialising and end of parental support – Learn how we're encouraging these young players to stay in the game!
