Welcome Clapton Community Football Club Family and Friends!

OPEN

Anyone can become a member. Prices are £1/year youth, £6 concession, £12 regular, with £24, £36 and £48 ‘solidarity’ options. Whatever category, everyone gets voting rights, a share in the club, a share certificate, an annual badge and a weekly newsletter. They have over 1500 members in 30+ countries.

DEMOCRATIC

Every member has as much opportunity to have a say as everyone else. They can vote on items at their general meetings and on individual issues as they come up, through their newsletter. These could be large, unbudgeted expenses or choosing the new kit design.

FLAT STRUCTURE

There is no hierarchy at Clapton Community FC. Any member can join their committees, which are responsible for their own decisions, within their own budgets. They replaced the traditional Board with a General Organising Committee, where reps from each area report and co-ordinate.

EQUITY

There is no hierarchy between their women’s and men’s first teams either. In everything they do, from budget and resources to their comms, they give each the same amount of love.

TRANSPARENT

They publish their monthly finances on their website. This includes everything from large purchases like the warehouse next to their ground, right down to stationery!

YOUTHFUL

They run loads of open kids training sessions in both Forest Gate and Walthamstow with hundreds of young people participating. These are fun, inclusive, and always on a pay-what-you-can basis. Working with The Magpie Project, they have provided a space for vulnerable kids and refugees. They have also run a homework club in the Clubhouse.

COMMUNITY

It’s in their name. They have partnered with over a dozen local groups, supporting causes close to their hearts. In 2020 they set up a Hardship Fund where members could request money on a no-questions-asked basis, raising and distributing over £14,000.

PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN

Clapton Community FC will never price anyone out of football. They will always try to give an option to pay-what-you-want (down to zero).

SOLIDARITY

Their space is the community’s space. They have run football tournaments with many organisations, including IWW, Queerspace and Outside Project. They partner with Renaissance FC, giving young refugees access to football and other support. In 2021, members voted to promote and support the Boycott, Divest and Sanction call from Palestine. That made them the first sports club in Britain to become an official Apartheid Free zone. They’ve also worked with CADFA to host Palestinian youth and women’s teams at the Old Spotted Dog.

OPEN ACCESS

Their open access training sessions, 5-a-side and 11-a-side teams have got hundreds of women and non-binary people playing football – many of whom had been denied access or marginalised. Some are even progressing through to their development and first teams.

LEARNING

They don’t get it right all of the time. But they do have the Accountability and Welfare committees to help.

CLAPTON COMMUNITY FC – ALWAYS ANTI-FASCIST, ANTI-SEXIST, ANTI-RACIST, ANTI-HOMOPHOBE, ANTI-TRANSPHOBE