A new national review of Premier League Kicks, published in January 2026, has highlighted the scale and longevity of one of the UK’s most established sport-for-good programmes.
Launched in 2006 as a partnership between the Premier League Foundation and the Metropolitan Police, Premier League Kicks was created to provide free, regular football and positive activities for young people in areas of high need. While the programme is funded and overseen nationally by the Premier League Foundation, it is delivered locally by the charitable arms of professional football clubs.
Across England and Wales, 93 Club Community Organisations (CCOs), including foundations and trusts linked to Premier League and EFL clubs, run Kicks sessions week in, week out. Delivery is led by community coaches and youth workers employed by those club charities, operating in parks, sports centres, schools and community spaces. Around 20 per cent of session coaches are former Premier League Kicks participants, and the programme is now supported by 34 police constabularies, reflecting its roots in community safety and trust-building.
The review shows that Premier League Kicks now delivers thousands of weekly sessions nationwide, supporting young people aged 8 to 18 through football, mentoring, leadership development and pathways into education, coaching and employment. Provision also extends beyond youth delivery, with programmes supporting older people, alongside dedicated activity for girls, young women and disabled participants.
Since launch, Premier League Kicks has engaged more than 600,000 people, demonstrating how football clubs, when embedded in their communities, can act as long-term social infrastructure that is trusted, consistent and capable of delivering meaningful impact far beyond the pitch.