A Peterborough football club designed to help its players lose weight has seen its players cut 66 stone collectively in 2025.

Man v Fat offers local men a supportive community and an engaging structure based around the beautiful game, which helps to make weight loss easier for the club’s players.

Man v Fat Football is a weight loss programme for men with a BMI over 27.5, players attend weekly sessions where they weigh in and play 28-minute games of small-sided football. Extra goals are awarded to teams with the greatest total weight-loss.

Both a team’s total weight loss, and goals scored in matches contribute to a team’s standing in the club’s league table.

placeholder image — David Gough's weight loss journey.

David Gough is one man who has seen the benefits of MAN v FAT Football Peterborough firsthand, having lost more than five stone with the programme. He joined in September of 2024 after some health scares made him realise the importance of losing weight and keeping healthy for his children.

He said: “I have two young children and had gone through some unfortunate health hiccups before I joined. I didn’t want to be unable to enjoy my time with my kids, or worse still, for them not to enjoy their time with me, so I realised I had to do something about my weight.

“Despite not playing for a while, I had always enjoyed football when I was younger. So when I found out about Man v Fat it seemed like a great fit for me!

“When I joined, I found that playing with likeminded people who all wanted to lose weight made it an easy transition from doing nothing to suddenly playing football again. The culture of the club is brilliant and very welcoming.

"When you’re low on confidence that welcoming culture, I can assure anyone reading, makes the ‘leap’ back into playing football and losing weight much more manageable and less stressful.”

Now, David has managed to lose five and a half stone with the programme since joining last year.

He highlights how the programme’s structure has helped him lose weight and improve his mental health, saying: “Making the commitment of signing up, led to me not wanting to let my team down at weigh-ins, which led to more walking and then running!

“It all has a positive knock on and being fitter and healthier definitely builds confidence and aids in keeping the mind healthy, too.”

The Peterborough club’s coach, Jamie Condley has recommended anyone who may be interested in the club to give it a go, encouraging people who might benefit to give it a go. He added: “I’d like to see more men join our great community. We have had many great successes in the last few years, like David’s, and I know that anybody could have the next incredible story.”

The Peterborough Man v Fat club takes place every Monday from 7:00 pm at Nene Park Academy.

In addition to football sessions, MAN v FAT players receive off-the-pitch support including healthy meal recipe ideas and tips on general fitness.

Players also get free access to a bespoke mental health platform through Man v Fat partners JAAQ.

You can find out more about Man v Fat at https://manvfat.com/football/.