The Football Sanctuary CIC

September is an important month for us, as it's Su***de Prevention Month. 💙

Men are notorious for smiling through pain, making jokes and simply saying “Yeah good mate, you?”, but there can be a battle that isn't discussed or seen.

Around 20 people a day die by su***de in the UK. Men are around 3x more likely to take their own lives, and su***de remains the leading cause of death for men under 50. All of who are friends, brothers, dads, partners and team mates.

Football is a strange sport. It brings a wide range of emotions, when you're playing, or watching the team you support. But for us at The Football Sanctuary, it gives us an escape from the pressures of everyday life. A place to switch off, have fun, remove the stress and almost be a kid again, kicking the ball around with your mates.

Over time, we’ve built something that feels more like a family than a football team. A community that looks out for each other.

So check in on your mates — especially the ones who always seem ok. Ask twice. Listen. You don't need the answers to the questions, or to solve the problem, but a problem shared is a problem halved.

And if you’re struggling, please don’t convince yourself that you have to deal with it alone.

Speak up. Talk to someone.

Su***de is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

No one should struggle alone. 💙

***dePreventionMonth ***dePrevention

The return from the success of last week's tournament to our regular Sunday morning fixture, the teams are out.

0845 MEET, 0900 KICK OFF!

Wow what a day!!

Reflecting on today, we thought the tournament was a huge success;
competitive and fun games, bringing the community together and raising money for a great cause. 💰

We will learn from it from what we saw and suggestions made. A fantastic effort all round, thank you everyone involved. ❤️

Hopefully we will see you all next time with Nifty Fifties the team to beat. 🏆

Finally, a massive thank you to everyone who helped in any capacity. We're very proud of what we have built. Rest up fellas, you deserve it. 😴

Up the TFS! ⚽

The time has come. Weeks of planning, organising, fund-raising, and hard work has brought a community of teams together for our first ever tournament. We are raising money in aid of Love Musgrove and the fantastic staff in the children's ward at Musgrove hospital.

https://gofund.me/194ee92c2

We have a number of local teams playing, as well as teams of friends, work colleagues and a few from TFS too! The teams are finally out and the fixture list will follow soon! Thank you to everyone who has helped make this happen. Hopefully the weather holds up and we have a great weekend of football!

Also, a huge thank you to our sponsors, who have helped pay for pitch hire, food, drink, trophies and medals! We couldn't have done it without you!

Annette Miller
Mark Stephens
Gordon Speechly
Organic Herb Trading
Yarcombe Woodland Products
Stokrotka Taunton - Polish Shop

See you all Sunday!

Staplegrove Football Club
Sands United FC Taunton
North Curry Football Club
Northwalls United
Pete PT Bruce
Papavero Pizza Company

In what might be the most bizarre gameweek I've seen at TFS, it is the Blacks that take victory in gameweek 6, with an unbeaten record. Oranges couldn't quite dethrone them in the final fixture, despite a last minute winner that was controversially ruled out 👀.

Further down the table we find Blue and White in 3rd and 4th in the table, although the latter were well-beaten by 5th placed Greens who finished with the joint-highest goals and goal difference of the week. The Reds round off the table, after a brilliant 4-4 thriller in the final fixture.

51 (FIFTY ONE) goals across the 9 games this morning - almost certainly a new record. Goals galore!

A quick reminder that there is no TFS next weekend as our tournament will be going ahead, starting at 10am! More information regarding arrival times, fixtures, and other arrangements are soon to come! TFS will resume as normal on the 30th August ⚽

⚽ We've got our first ever tournament on 23rd August and incredibly there are 1️⃣5️⃣ teams taking part. Joining a few teams from TFS itself are Staplegrove Football Club, Northwalls United, North Curry Football Club, Pete PT Bruce, Papavero Pizza Company, and a few other locals, all in aid of raising money for Love Musgrove. 🏥

We're still looking for donations to our cause and are aiming for £1,000, including the fees being paid by players to pay and we're nearly! 💰

https://gofund.me/194ee92c2

A huge thank you goes out to a few businesses and people who have sponsored us to pay for the pitch hire, trophies, medals, food and drink too. 👏🏻🥳

Yarcombe Woodland Products
Organic Herb Trading
Stokrotka Taunton - Polish Shop
Annette Miller
Gordon Speechly
Mark Stephens

P.S - Still space for one more team if you can get one together 👀

THANK YOU!!

TFS! 💙⚽

GW5 teams!!

We sold out in 45 minutes this week, another remarkable turnout!!