An Earlestown football club which prides itself on welcoming children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has won a kit funding grant from online retailer AO.
Earlestown Athletic Junior Football Club will be able to kit out all 14 players in its under-10s team with brand new rain jackets, after successfully applying to AO’s Grassroots Sponsorship fund.
The team is coached by Dr Gareth Nye, a dad of three whose nine-year-old daughter, Gracie, has type 1 diabetes. Gracie almost died from diabetic ketoacidosis when she was just one year old, and as she grew older, she developed a passion for football — but managing her condition while playing brought its own challenges.
Gracie needs to wear an insulin pump around her waist during matches to keep her blood sugar levels stable, and the condition can cause fatigue, thirst and other unpredictable symptoms. Gareth found that a lack of awareness among other coaches made finding a welcoming team difficult.
Rather than give up, he decided to set up and coach his own.
“I swore that I would give everyone a chance to play, regardless of whatever additional needs they might have,” he said. “This includes children who have recovered from cancer, struggle with ADHD or have simply been rejected from other teams. We may not be the best team in the league, but there is a deep connection between them which extends beyond football and in turn has given these kids a real purpose and enjoyment in life they might otherwise have struggled to access.”
AO launched its grassroots programme in late 2023, with the aim of making sport more accessible for young people across the UK. Teams can apply for a £500 grant towards sponsored kit, which is supplied by KitKing. More than 600 teams have benefitted since the scheme launched, across a range of sports including hockey, rugby and trampolining. The programme was highly commended in the Grassroots Initiative of the Year category at the Global Football Industry Awards in 2025.
Other youth sports teams can apply for funding via AO’s grassroots portal.
You can find out more about Earlestown Athletic Junior Football Club on their Facebook page.