Providing opportunities, creating experiences and ensuring football is genuinely accessible to everyone sits at the heart of what we want to achieve through the Tonbridge Angels Foundation.
Over the past 18 months, a programme that perhaps demonstrates that purpose better than any other has been the development of our Pan Disability football provision, delivered in partnership with The Oaks Specialist College based here in Tonbridge.
What began with a relatively small group of players attending football sessions has developed enormously. We now regularly welcome upwards of 30 players each week, and the enthusiasm, commitment and enjoyment shown by those taking part has made it one of our most rewarding programmes.
The Oaks Specialist College is a not-for-profit specialist education provider, supporting young adults aged 18–25 with learning difficulties from across Kent. Established in 2018, the college was rated Outstanding in all areas by Ofsted in 2023 and places a particular emphasis on preparing its learners for adulthood, independence and their next steps beyond education.
That ethos aligns closely with what we believe football – and a community football club – can provide.
Our sessions are obviously about playing the game, developing skills and enjoying football, but their value stretches much further. Football creates opportunities to communicate, work as part of a team, develop confidence, experience competition and build relationships. Most importantly, it provides another environment in which participants can feel that they belong.
For us, that is fundamental.
Our purpose as a Foundation isn’t simply to provide football for those who already have easy access to it. We want to identify where opportunities have traditionally been limited and use the football club to help open those doors.
Whether that means someone’s first experience of representing a football club, pulling on a Tonbridge Angels shirt, travelling to play another team or simply being part of a regular weekly session, we want to create experiences that participants can genuinely look forward to and be proud of.
The growth of our sessions with The Oaks has therefore encouraged us to consider what the next opportunity should look like.
We are delighted that, following a successful application, Tonbridge Angels will enter a competitive Pan Disability team into the Kent Disability Football League for the upcoming season.
It represents a significant next step for the programme.
The Kent Disability Football League has been providing competitive opportunities for players with disabilities for more than two decades. Its origins date back to 2005, when clubs and organisations worked alongside Kent FA and Kent County Council to establish regular competitive football rather than relying predominantly on occasional friendlies and tournaments. The first junior league season followed in 2006.
Today, the competition has grown into one of the country’s largest county disability leagues, with 18 clubs, more than 60 small-sided teams and ten divisions, providing football from eight years old through to adulthood. Adult divisions are ability-banded, helping players compete at a level appropriate to them, while clubs come together for regular festival-style competition throughout the season.
That environment feels like the perfect next step for our players.
Competitive football brings something different. There is the excitement of fixtures, representing the badge, playing against different opposition and sharing the experience of winning, losing and improving together. But our measure of success will always extend far beyond a league table.
Success will be seeing somebody represent Tonbridge Angels who may previously never have believed that opportunity would be available to them.
It will be players growing in confidence, developing friendships and feeling increasingly connected to their local football club and community.
It will be seeing our weekly sessions continue to grow and, hopefully, providing a pathway through which even more people can become involved.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone at The Oaks for their support and enthusiasm throughout the partnership so far. Their own mission is centred around placing young people with learning disabilities at the heart of everything they do, helping learners develop the skills, knowledge and confidence required for their next steps in adulthood.
As we prepare for our first season of competitive Pan Disability football, there is a huge amount to look forward to. However, this isn’t the end point for the programme. In many ways, it is only the beginning.
Our ambition is to continue growing an inclusive football offer at Tonbridge Angels where opportunity and experience are not determined by disability or circumstance.
Football has an incredible ability to bring people together.
Our job is to make sure as many people as possible get the opportunity to experience it.
