Leisure Leagues

Leisure Leagues logo with trademark

Leisure Leagues are Europe's largest organisers of five-a-side football and six-a-side football,[1][2] and as well as running leagues in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, they also operate leagues in the Republic of Ireland, as well as America.

in 2017, the brand will expand to Pakistan[3] as well as new competitions across the UK.[4]

History of Leisure Leagues

The name "Leisure Leagues" was first used in 1990 although the small-sided leagues had been running for many years previously.[5]

The first leagues began cropping up in the Midlands area (Coventry, Stratford Upon Avon and Warwick) but the organisation soon grew and more areas were soon added to the list.

Charity

The only small-sided football provider to donate all of their profits to charity and environmentally sustainable projects, Leisure Leagues are delighted to benefit the Dog's Trust and Cancer Research UK and Blind Children UK.[6][7] And even with the organisation's massive operations across Europe, they are committed to keeping their travelling carbon neutral.[8]

Leisure Leagues TV

Leisure Leagues are the only providers of five-a-side and six-a-side football who can boast a dedicated film department[9] that films promotional videos at leagues across the world.

Testimonials

The organisation can boast kind words of support from several footballing celebrities,[10] including Alan Wiley,[11] Alex McLeish,[12] Stephen Kelly[13] and Jeff Kenna.[14] It is not only in the footballing world though where the charitable work of Leisure Leagues is recognised, as Gordon Brown, David Cameron, The Prince Of Wales and Boris Johnson have all given messages of support to the organisation.[15]

Format

The Leisure Leagues, using football pitches across the country, gives the opportunity to people from different walks of life and standards of football to get involved in a local league. The different leagues in different regions (and days) contain varying amounts of teams and divisions. Teams and players can compete in multiple leagues at the same time and as there are different skill levels throughout the leagues, teams may win one league and find themselves in a relegation battle in another.

Amount of Players

As of late 2016, the Leisure Leagues Network had 200,000 players. This makes it the biggest independent network of leagues anywhere in Europe.

New Website

On 5 September 2016, Leisure Leagues unveiled its new website.[16] The first league to be tested on it was the Flagship competition at Birmingham University.[17] The roll out was completed fully on 31 October, with the old website switched off on November 1, 2016.[18]

Franchise

In 2010, Leisure Leagues unveiled plans to franchise their brand worldwide.[19] By 2016, almost a third of their leagues were operating on a franchise basis.

References

  1. ↑ Leisure Leagues Homepage
  2. ↑ UK Sponsorship
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeaMA2Fq-C4
  4. ↑ http://www.cumbriacrack.com/2016/10/12/brand-new-community-league-set-newton-rigg-college/
  5. ↑ Leisure Leagues History
  6. ↑ http://www.blindchildrenuk.org/
  7. ↑ Leisure Leagues' Profits
  8. ↑ Leisure Leagues Going Carbon Neutral
  9. ↑ https://www.leisureleagues.net/page/leisure-leagues-tv
  10. ↑ Testimonials
  11. ↑ Top Referee Backs Belvedere Competition
  12. ↑ Big Ecks' Backing For Big League
  13. ↑ Free Kit For Your Team, Says Kelly
  14. ↑ Places Up For Grabs For New Campaign
  15. ↑ Brand New 6-a-side League Launching In Harrogate
  16. ↑ http://www.leisureleagues.net
  17. ↑ https://www.leisureleagues.net/league/university-of-birmingham/birmingham-sunday
  18. ↑ retro.leisureleagues.net
  19. ↑ http://www.leisureleaguesfranchise.com
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