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HELLO
Welcome to the eighth edition of The Grassroots Post. And in April, in eleven-a-side, we find ourselves at the business end
of the season. The inclement weather is over and the pitches are no longer marshland, but back to their bobbly best. Double headers are everywhere as teams attempt to complete half a season in seven weeks. Cup Final season is upon us. And there’s nothing more gratifying than a grassroots cup final. The build up, the friends and family pouring through the turnstiles, the match announcer, the programmes, the fact that when you bump into a teammate years down the line, you’ll still have that bond. Remember that bloody cup final, mate?
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We are also surging towards a very special event. The Women’s Euros takes place in July in England, cementing women's football not only on our TVs, but in our schools and on our grassroots pitches for generations to come. No doubt the host towns and cities will have all sorts of events celebrating this major tournament and ensuring that its legacy lives on. It's a tournament that no doubt will pass without the scenes we saw at the culmination of the last event on our shores. Get behind it!
Women’s football is just one of the formats that we’ve tried to shine a light on as much as possible since we began The Grassroots Post. And in this issue we’ve had the pleasure of visiting our first teams outside the South East, in Newport City and AFC Fylde. Every club we’ve ever visited, in whatever format of the game, has its characters. Volunteers that live and breathe it, where their small club plays a large role in their life. They give so much, and ask for so little back.
They’re the lifeblood of the best amateur football scene in the world and it’s impossible not to be inspired and feel a sense of warmth when walking away from every club we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Whether we’ll be able to make another edition of The Grassroots Post, I don’t know, but knowing that these people exist in every pocket of this country is the most satisfying thing I’ll take away from it.
