Summary
The second of two studies helping to evidence the way in which football enables empowerment for girls and women in London.

By Ellen Jackson and Grant Jarvie
Brentford FC Community Sports Trust was established in 1987, making Brentford FC one of the first football clubs to launch a community football project. Brentford FC Community Sports Trust was initially called Brentford Football in the Community and developed a key partnership between the two local councils – Ealing and Hounslow.
The Trust has established itself as a pioneering organisation and “uses the power of sport to educate, motivate and inspire people from all backgrounds”. Working in partnership with Brentford FC, the Trust delivers a range of programmes in education, employability, sports participation, health and community engagement.
The mission is to create an exciting, progressive and socially inclusive multi-sports participation, coach education and facility development programmes, enabling participants, coaches and volunteers to realise their potential. The core values are to: i) inspire, ii) innovate, and iii) include.
In the 2022/23 season, the Trust delivered 13, 476 sessions to roughly 12,235 unique participants. This was across their Community Stadium Hub and Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub. An estimated economic and social contribution of £143,076,836 to west London during a three-year reporting period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2023.
Brentford FC Community Sports Trust
Survey Findings
The Brentford FC Community Sports Trust Survey was distributed through Brentford FC Community Sports Trust to adolescent girls enrolled in their ETC programmes. Prior to any data being collected ethical clearance was secured through the University of Edinburgh ethics review process. Both parental and participant consent were collected.
All participants lived in London and were adolescent girls (aged between 10-19 years), with a mean age of 13.2 years.
54.5% of participants had been enrolled in the ETC programme for more than one year, 36.6% for 6-12 months, and 9.1% had been enrolled in a Brentford FC Community Sports Trust ETC for less than 6 months.
Physical Activity Levels
The average rating for physical activity levels before starting the ETC programme was 8.9; and after joining the programme the average rating of physical activity rose to 9.2.
This displays an average increase in physical activity levels of 3.4% due to engagement in Brentford FC Community Sports Trust
Reasons for Engagement
All participants cited engaging in Brentford FC Community Sports Trust programmes due to a desire to develop football skills (100%). The second most popular motivator for engagement was to improve overall health and fitness (81.8%).
This was followed by wanting to improve mental health (54.5%) and have fun and feel happy (54.5%). Other reasons included to wanting to be part of an inclusive environment (45.5%) and make new friends (36.6%).
Several participants cited engaging in Brentford FC Community Sports Trust programmes because their parents wanted them to (18.2%). One participant cited their desire to become a professional Brentford Football Player (9.1%).
Barriers to Physical Activity Participation
The most common barrier to physical activity was low self-confidence (45.4%). This was followed by not enough opportunities to play (36.4%).
A smaller percentage cited lack of time, not having friends who play sport, academic pressure from school, being embarrassed about their body image and fear of injury (all 18.2%).
9.1% highlighted financial barriers, being too tired and a preference for other activities. And one participant stated that there aren’t enough places to play locally (9.1%).
No participants cited not enjoying the competitive nature of sport or lack of parental support as barriers (0%). Whereas 18.2% stated that they haven’t faced any challenges when participating in physical activity.
Development of Life Skills
Participants rated their development of three key life skills—confidence, leadership, and teamwork—on a Likert scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being “not at all” and 10 being “a lot.”
The highest reported skill improvement was teamwork with a mean score of 8.3, followed by confidence at 7.9, and leadership at 7.0.
Comparison with School Physical Education
Participants rated their enjoyment of both school Physical Education lessons and Brentford FC Community Sports Trust sessions on a Likert scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being “not at all” and 10 being “a lot.”
The average rating of enjoyment of school Physical Education was 9.5, whereas for Brentford FC Community Sports Trust sessions was 8.7.
Engagement in other Sports Teams
Participants detailed the number of other sports clubs or a group they are a member of.
0% of participants listed Brentford FC Community Sports Trust as the only sports club they participate in. 27.3% do one other sports club or group and 36.4% do two other sports clubs or groups. 36.4% confirmed that they do 4 or more other sports clubs or groups aside from Brentford FC Community Sports Trust.
Feedback and Improvements
Survey participants were invited to share their favourite thing about the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust programme and provided with a space to offer any feedback.
Answers which related to the football elements of the programme included: “The ability and chance to improve football skills.”, “I get to play my way of football.”, “Learning new techniques.”, “Being part of an ETC”.
Answers which related to the coaching team included: “The coaches are very encouraging but also firm to help you develop.”, and “The encouraging coaches and inclusive environment they create.”
Answers which related to social elements and friendships included: “The people you meet”, and “Playing at a high standard with friends I know are at the same level as me”.
Answers which related to new opportunities included: “It also provides lots of different opportunities like playing against other high-quality teams and going on trips like the Netherlands tour. It also helps me challenge myself by playing with other like-minded players who have ambitions similar to mine”, “Opportunities to access elite level football”, and “the opportunities you get”.
Participants were invited to share their improvements for the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust programme and provided with a space to write their feedback.
Answers relating to more opportunities to train included: “Another session during the week.”, “An additional training session offered.”, and “A two-hour session instead of an hour and a half since we only have one training session a week.”
Answers relating to more matches and fixtures included: “Take part in tournaments to bond the team together.”, “More matches.”, “Enter the Brentford Squad into a league to play weekly matches.”, “more matches to local teams.”, “a team in the JPL league and girls Academy.”, and “Play more competitive fixtures ideally in a weekly league.”
Answers relating to personal feedback included: “More individual feedback to improve.”, and “more feedback to individual players”. Answers relating to the session structure included: “Tougher and stricter coaching.”, “More structured training sessions.”, and “smaller numbers in training group”. One participant also said, “better equipment”.
The findings presented here are only a snapshot from the survey findings. For a fuller account of this research and other reports carried out by the Academy of Sport see Academy of Sport Research and Knowledge Exchange.