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A1 Security Print Ltd are delighted to sponsor the home kit for Bustleholme Athletic FC Under 7’s Football Team who play in the Walsall League. Bustleholme Football Club was set up in 1975, and over 40 years later the club continues to grow and evolve. For the 2016/17 season the club boasts 19 competing teams from Under 7’s to an open age team playing in the West Midlands Regional League.

The Under 7’s only came together in the summer this year, and started off with borrowed equipment and hand-me-down shirts that were somewhat ill-fitting. A1 employee, Sherice Venables’s son Billy plays for the team, and she approached Managing Director, Jim Richardson with the idea of shirt sponsorship. A1 agreed to donate funds to ensure they looked their best on the pitch for their first full season, and Jim also agreed to provide warm up jackets for the boys, who were extremely excited to hear they were receiving new kit.

Team Manager Tom Withers says ‘it’s phenomenal to see the kid’s faces on a Sunday. It’s not just about the football either – it’s about making new friends from different places, for the children and the parents’.

Despite all the money in the Premier League, it’s not finding its way down to grass roots football. Clubs rely on parents like Sherice and the passion of coaches like Tom Withers and Assistant Callum Johnson to keep the clubs running. With the rising cost of football pitches, many coaches of junior clubs across the Midlands claim they are now struggling to get by. A special investigation team from ITV News Central recently found that the average cost of hiring a pitch for an amateur football club has risen over 1,000% in 20 years.

The team have entered in a brand new tournament for junior grassroots football, called The West Midlands Junior Champions league. This gives children the opportunity to play teams they would not normally come up against from the Walsall, Stourbridge, Telford, South Staffs, Mid Warwickshire and Lichfield leagues. The tournament follows the format of The Champions League and Europa League, with Finals Day being held at The Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground (Wolves Academy). The team recently played their first game, winning 4-3 with virtually the last kick of the game.

A1 wish the boys the best of luck for the rest of the season.