Shropshire Junior League

Shropshire Junior Football League (SJFL) has come a long way since it started in the 1973/74 season with 25 teams in 3 divisions for U13, U14 & U16 age groups. This year SJFL celebrated 40 years of providing junior football with a Gala Awards Event.

23 Charter Standard clubs, 167 teams from U8 to U16 and over 2300 players enjoy safe and friendly football every week. Match officials are appointed to all U16 fixtures, cup matches and finals and the league uses FA Full-Time to generate fixtures with SMS text for results (U12 – U16). Shropshire Junior League attended the recent FA Youth Leagues Conference and has used this to inspire future targets, including furthering the league’s referee appointments and development programme.

SJFL were the first affiliated league in England to be accredited as a Charter Standard League by The Football Association, and have implemented a mid-season winter break for mini-soccer with a Winter Futsal Programme for the past six seasons.

SJFL and member clubs are committed to promoting inclusivity and to eliminating all forms of discrimination and SJFL was recognised for its excellent work with the FA Respect Programme, having been awarded Bronze accreditation by in 2012 and in 2013 with the first Silver accreditation to any league in the county/region.

Photo courtesy of Yarrington Limited