To celebrate the return of Grassroots football, adidas has announced that it will be paying London footballer’s subs over the next two weekends. adidas has partnered with two of the biggest leagues in the capital as football returns to the pitches of London for the first time since lockdown, and will be supporting a total of 3,738 players from across 267 teams.
This commitment to grassroots football is part of the adidas Football Collective which was launched in October 2020. The adidas Football Collective is a movement committed to creating change through football, that brings together past, current and future initiatives aiming to empower teams and football communities around the world. Currently, the ongoing adidas Football Collective work is London-focussed within the UK – however, there are plans for this to expand in the near future.
Last weekend, adidas partnered with the Amateur Football Combination (AFC) as it recommenced its season. The AFC is one of the biggest leagues in Europe with 222 men’s adult and veteran teams all across London.
This weekend, the Greater London Women’s Football League (GLWFL) kicks off its season with adidas’ support. The GLWFL is London’s only affiliated Women’s Football League, providing football to Women’s teams in and around London for more than 20 years.
Chris Walsh, adidas Vice President UK said: “Grassroots football is back and we are as excited as players across country are to see the game we all love return. Our adidas Football Collective initiative is about creating positive change through football and we’ve got much more to come on this as we all look forward to a hugely exciting summer for the sport.”
Julie Syer, General Secretary from the Greater London Women’s Football League (GLWFL), said: “This is an amazing opportunity for us to be partnering with adidas to support our league. It’s been a long time for everyone without grassroots football, so we are really excited for our teams to get back out on the pitch next weekend – and it’s been made that little bit more exciting now that the subs are covered!”
The adidas Football Collective’s commitment to grassroots football began in October, when the first initiative was launched designed to help grassroots and amateur teams across Europe with a provision of 150,000 free kits. The kits were delivered to a total of 10,000 teams across Europe in November with adult, women’s and youth sets being provided. This is one of a handful of initiatives that has been set up by the adidas Football Collective to drive positive change in and through football.
