Upper Lighthorne FC - Where Football is for Everyone

Founded in late 2020, Upper Lighthorne Football Club (ULFC) was created by Mikey Perks, a UEFA B Qualified football coach. Mikey played locally for several teams across the midlands before starting his coaching journey with Leamington FC. where he worked his way up to Vice Chairman. A stint followed at a couple of other grassroots clubs before Mikey started to pursue a potential football career, gaining experience in academy setups with Pro Soccer Academy. Mikey moved into the Adult Women's Game, coaching several teams with his most recent stint being the 1st team Manager of Coventry City Women.

Mikey then started to work for the Football Association. Initially, as a UEFA C Coach Developer, Mikey now holds two roles, working as a Coach Mentor and a Disability Football Ambassador. During this time, Mikey stepped away from Coventry City and after moving to the local area, discovered the was no local football team for the children of Upper Lighthorne, a brand new settlement combining the vilages of Lighthorne, Lighthorne Heath, and Gaydon with several new houses and facilities.

Mikey has always been aware that locally, there were no football clubs with the genuine ethos of allowing all children to play football regardless of their ability. Most other clubs put children through a "trial session" before joining. Sometimes players would fail their trial or be removed from existing teams when 'someone better' comes along. Mikey was keen to create a club where children could join without fear of rejection​​

Starting with just 3 teams in 2020, ULFC now sits at 8 teams in just our 3rd season. This includes bespoke Girls Only teams. Add to this our two Minis sessions means that we provide football for children as young as 3, up to 12 years old. We have boys and girls teams from U7s to U12s and in the coming years we plan to continue to add teams until we have at least one at each age group, plus we are looking at launching adult Men and women's teams for our players to eventually transition too, if they so wish. Right behind our home ground you will find the British Motor Museum and JLR, which is the former site of RAF Gaydon. Our teams and Minis groups are a homage to the base, as both are named after RAF plans that once flew over our fields. The Spitfires (Mixed) and Valiants (Girls) names are a reminder of what was here before the club, as is the fighter plane found on our famous badge.

ULFC has been awarded FA Accreditated Club Status, which means all of our Coaches have in-date DBS, Safeguarding, and First Aid Qualifications. All of our coaches hold 'Introduction to Coaching Football' or are working towards it, and we have several coaches at the club working towards higher-level qualifications. Head of Football Mikey and our U12s Valiants coach James both hold the UEFA B qualification, making us one of the most unique clubs in the area to have such high-ranking coaches as part of the team.

ULFC is based at several locations. Our team training takes place at Kineton High School, with games played at Lighthorne Heath Playing Fields for our younger teams, and Kineton High School for our older teams. The new development of Upper Lighthorne means several new facilities are en route to the area and we hope to shortly have access to one home base where all our teams' games and training will take place.

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