‘This is for the Bretton community’: Peterborough Lions Football Club raises £5,000 needed for new goals

A Peterborough football club – with more than 150 players across ten youth teams – has managed to raise £5,000 for new goals.

Peterborough Lions Football Club, who play their home games at Peterborough Lions Rugby Club, in Bretton, was established in June last year.

The club needed to raise £8,000 for six, new portable goals on wheels – ranging from full size 11-a-side goals to smaller goals for small-sided matches.

After previously securing £3,000 in funding from the UK’s largest sporting charity – the Football Foundation – the club has now raised £5,000 in under a month to purchase the goals.

"I don’t know how we did it in such a short amount of time,” Darren Foster, who founded Peterborough Lions with his partner Kerry Cassidy last year, said.

"I’m over the moon – I can’t believe we pulled it off. It’s credit to everyone at the club.

"It gives us a foundation and secures the future for the club.”

The club was previously based at Bretton Park, where Darren said teams were playing with “broken plastic goals”, before moving to its new permanent home at Peterborough Lions Rugby Club.

A significant proportion of the money the club raised was generously donated by Peterborough Progress Health.

“We are delighted to be able to support the local community with this initiative,” a Progress Health spokesperson said.

"We hope the donation provided will enhance the footballing experience for the children of Bretton and Peterborough Lions Football Club.”

Peterborough Lions hope to continue to grow after recently receiving further funding from the Football Foundation to start hosting girls football at the club.

“I’m a great believer in providing everyone with an opportunity to experience and play football, and we want girls to participate in the sport as well,” Darren added.

“This is for the Bretton community and has brought everyone together.”