Creating a family ethos is Penwortham St Gerards FC's main goal

The club is preparing for its first season, having set up earlier this year, with two age teams in the Under-8s Mid Lancashire Colts League and Under-11s who play in the Central Lancashire Junior Youth League.

It is affiliated with Lostock St Gerards FC whose first team play in the West Lancashire League Premier Division.

Gemma Webster set up the club with her husband, Darren and looks after child welfare.

Their sons Tyler, 10, and Brook, seven, play for the different age group teams, while Tyler’s twin brother Chase is the club’s mascot.

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Gemma says: “The club has been set up to provide an opportunity for the children from the local area to play football in an organised and safe environment.

“As a team, we were part of Penwortham Town but when the facility at Lostock St Gerards became available, it was just too good of an offer to turn away.

“Our team play on the first teams pitch at Lostock St Gerards with adequate drainage on to ensure we play week in week out.

“We provide a basis of the footballing pyramid with the intention of feeding into the adults teams in years to come.

“The club aims to become a Football Association (FA) Chartered Standard Club.

“This is the benchmark standard the national FA set for all grassroots football clubs.”

The club’s main ethos is to ensure the players feel comfortable and have fun.

The team even has its own motto, #footballfamily, which is printed on the back of their shirts.

Gemma adds: “As a club we are so passionate in providing long lasting memories for the children not just on the pitch away from it as well.

“We have already had two huge fund-raisers for the club and we recently enjoyed a club camping trip in the Lakes.

“We also held our own five-day football camp where we had at least 25 children attend everyday.

“We even took the children to Manchester Football Museum. These kind of activities and events don’t happen at every club. .

“We have a page on Facebook called grassroots #footballfamily. #footballfamily is our moto we have it on the back of our shirts.

“We use the FA’s RESPECT campaign as our basis to grow on.

“The goal of Penwortham St Gerards (PSG) FC, is to provide all players the opportunity to play to their potential.

“We feel this can be accomplished through the PSG way, which is our commitment to the areas of humility, ambition, and community.

“These areas are shown through our three main bodies in our club – players, coaches, and parents.

“The club has developed certain codes of conduct for each of these members that serve as guidelines for their roles within the club.”

Sarah Green, whose 
son George plays in the Under-11s team, helps out with team admin.

She says: “It is different to other clubs. We don’t have a big committee so all the parents take on roles. We help with fund-raising and organise events etc.

“I input statistics after the matches and support the club any way I can.

“George loves being in the team. Making sure the boys are having fun is at the very heart of everything.

“Football is a competitive sport and of course we want to win, but it is about making the boys feel they are Ronaldo or Messi even if they are 4-0 down. We want to show the boys that they are good at football and even the best team have bad matches.

“It is important children learn to respect other players and other teams. It is about instilling good values in the boys.

“George is learning to understand how other people feel if the game doesn’t go their way.

“He wouldn’t want to play anywhere else.”