Bearley United FC

Bearley United FC were formed in June 2020, led by the efforts of villager Ed Foster. Starting a men's football team in any year takes a huge community effort, let alone in the middle of a pandemic. An initial idea of a new team for the village grew as word of mouth spread. The underutilised sports field and a passion for football was a guiding factor. Roll on six months and the team have 29 players' ages 18-33 years and are competing in the Stratford Alliance Division 2 league. Amateur football has inevitably been affected due to the pandemic and with limited game play (6 in total) there was always the risk that a team in its infancy could fold, but this was not the case for Bearley United FC. A thriving WhatsApp group, a New Year's Eve virtual get together and the start of mini challenges as lockdown 3.0 hit, limiting all face to face interaction. Challenge videos are being shared on social media and all of this has helped to contribute towards great community spirit and camaraderie amongst the players and supporters. In such a short time this team has been founded, developed and flourished.