History of Eastlands JFC

Eastland was formed by Steve Heighton in July 2007. The foundations were laid in 2005 when a group of 6 and 7 year olds were being coached the fun part of football skills. These numbers soon grew to a reasonable number and with the host club of the time refusing to adopt the FA Charter, the group moved en bloc and set up Eastlands Junior Football Club. The club has links with the local Eastlands school where most of its players went to and this was agreed by the then head teacher and the club was formed.

A committee was established and the club was registered with the FA in July 2007 to start playing in the August. The founder was Steve Heighton, an FA level 2 coach with over 20 year's experience, who also became the club's first manager. By the end of the first season the under 8s team had come within a game of winning the league and enough players were attending training to form a new team for the coming season. The older team were invited by Aston Villa to attend a training evening and then the same club invited the new under 7s into their own prestigious tournament. Within 14 months of starting, the club had two teams and a sound footing in the Eastlands area with its home pitch at the GEC ground on Hillmorton road and significant sponsorship from Concept Building Solutions and Eastlands Court Business Centre. The club now has four qualified FA Coaches, two at level 2, with others to follow and a secure Child Protection team.

The club has adopted the FA Respect campaign and the clubs pitch is one of the few to have the respect lines down the sides after they requested the Council did this. The clubs' two teams compete in the Coventry Minor League and play their games on Sunday mornings.

The club looks to have a bright future with qualified coaches and a sound basis in the local Eastlands community. In July 2009 Eastlands JFC achieved FA Charter Standard.