Santley United · Since 1992
More than a
Football club.
A brief club history — from a single group of Year 6 boys to a South London youth football club with over 30 years of league football.
Santley United Football Club was founded in 1992, when a group of 12 Year 6 boys from Santley Primary School were preparing to leave for different secondary schools.
While some of the boys found education challenging, football brought them together. On the pitch they bonded, developed and grew in confidence. Their parents and coach recognised the positive impact football was having on them, both socially and educationally, and decided to keep the group together and enter a competitive league.
Football also taught the boys valuable life lessons including teamwork, fair play, discipline and respect, as well as how to be gracious in defeat and humble in victory.
In our first season in 1992, Santley had just one team made up of the original boys. They competed on Saturdays in the ACYC League (Association of Combined Youth Clubs), now known as the London County Youth Saturday Football League.
By our second season, the club had grown to three teams as word quickly spread throughout the local community. More young players looking for an opportunity to play football found a home at Santley. From there, the club continued to grow, welcoming a new younger team almost every season — a tradition that has continued for over 30 years.
During our early years, we enjoyed some memorable battles with strong local clubs including Independent FC, Accra FC, Moorlands FC and Kennington Kings FC.
Over the years, Santley United has built a strong reputation and won numerous league titles and cups, including success in the Saturday League and the Tandridge Youth League, where the club has competed for more than 30 seasons.
Most importantly, Santley has helped develop generations of young people. Many former players have gone on to achieve success in football and in their personal and professional lives. We remain extremely proud of every player who has put on a Santley shirt and gone on to build a positive future.
The Original 12
- Alrick Newby
- Jason Rennox
- Wayne Bailey
- Akins Agbeni
- Darren Sharpe
- Kevin Wedderman
- James McFarlane
- Peter Lindsey
- Michael Lindo
- Colin Morris
- Wesley Watson
- Jason McBean
Santley Primary School was a Lambeth primary school founded on Santley Street, SW4, in 1902. The school closed in August 1997.
The club's foundations are based on giving local boys who have been blessed with a talent and that want to develop, or boys who are just showing an interest and then go on to blossom, the opportunity to harness their potential and show off their talents.
With so many distractions that can take our local youths to places where they don't need to be, a safe space that clubs can offer is essential; offering players the chance to come away from the distractions that they face and giving them a chance to make something of themselves as well as developing life skills is what we aim to achieve at Santley.
We know playing for Santley has changed the lives of many boys who have come through our doors; as one former player said, 'If it wasn't for the Club I don't know where I would be now. You guys were there for me when I was at my lowest and because I knew I had football on the weekend I would stay in and kept out of trouble that a lot of my friends got into.'
As a club we will continue to embrace the boys who 'don't have it easy' and will give them a chance to develop both on and off the pitch.