| Club History & Philosophy | Balham FC was founded as Balham Blazers FC by Greg Cruttwell in 2001. It started with one Under 10 team in 2001/02 playing in the London County Saturday Youth Football League. Following on from their success more age group teams have gradually been added and with 23 teams the club now offers a direct pathway from Under 7s up to Senior First Team semi professional football at Step 5 in the football league ladder. Following a playing ethos of trying to bring a bit of Barcelona to Balham the age group section of the club has been extremely successful to date, winning or being runners up in over 300 League and Cup Competitions. Nicknamed “The Blazers”, the club has also been an unprecedented three- time winner of both the London FA Charter Standard Community Club of the Year Award and Wandsworth Sports Club of the Year Award. In addition to offering a direct pathway for boys teams the club has a senior women’s team and in 2017 launched its first age group girls team with great success. Another team has been added each season since. We now have girls teams from Under 12’s up to Under 15’s with the long term goal being to have a direct pathway into women’s football for girls of a young age too. The club, run by a Board of Directors, is tightly knit and unique in promoting very heavily from within, with most in the current senior squad having come through the age group system. The aim is to continue climbing the league ladder and expanding younger age groups in what has been a fast ascent and growth to date and also an incredibly exciting journey for all those involved. |
