Blog

Raiders Trustees, Age Group Coordinators, Team Managers and Parents share their perspective on grassroots youth football. Great insight into grassroots football from an award winning youth football club.

  • 10/04/2023

    HOW TO BECOME A FOOTBALL REFEREE

    Football provides huge opportunities for children and adults, of all ages, to develop their technical, social, and physical skills but matches aren’t possible without referees. Whilst football matches at younger age groups are typically refereed by (occasionally) willing parents as you progress through the age groups the ...more
  • Martina Hardy
    14/03/2021

    Martina Hardy Interview - From Playing to Managing and Beyond

    As part of our International Women's Day activity throughout March, we recently spoke to Martina Hardy, manager and coach of the U12 Titans, to find out about her football playing years as a child, her subsequent journey with Raiders, and how she views the future of the game. Berkhamsted Raiders: Martina, tell us about ...more
  • 07/03/2021

    History of Raiders Girls' Football

    With 275 female players, Berkhamsted Raiders is, according to the FA, the largest football club in the country for female youth football. However, we’re not resting on our laurels and we aim to grow our number of female players to 500 by 2025. Our first female player, Molly Beard, started playing in 2003 and was ...more
  • 02/03/2021

    A brief (and incredible) history of women’s football

    We’re living through a golden age of women’s football. With more investment and public support than ever before, record and growing match attendances, ever-increasing mainstream media coverage, and fantastic levels of participation at grass-roots level, there’s plenty to feel proud of and hopeful about if you’re in ...more
  • Berkhamsted Raiders Tournament
    16/02/2021

    The changing face of grassroots football

    Keith Pollard, Raiders Chair of Trustees looks at how grassroots football has changed over the last ten years and how he sees the future. September 2007, Hemel Hempstead: My Berkhamsted Raiders U11s play their first game in the step up to 11 a side football. A 14-0 defeat played on a full-size pitch with full-size goals ...more
  • Futsal at Raiders
    04/02/2021

    Is futsal the future?

    Sean McKay, Raiders Age Group Coordinator and Futsal coach shares his insight into the future of futsal. Johannesburg, 11 July, 2010. “It’s broken for Fabregas, now it’s Iniesta, this is it, that’s the goal, Spain have surely won the World Cup”. Conservative estimates put the TV audience for the 2010 World Cup ...more
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