LALIGA's partnership with Bloomsbury Football is using football’s values to shape communities.
Football isn’t just about what happens on the pitch—it’s about inspiring people and building communities. LALIGA, one of the world’s biggest football brands, is committed to that vision by creating a global movement grounded in the values of the sport. But making a global impact often requires local action, which is where grassroots organizations like Bloomsbury Football come in.
Keegan Pierce from LALIGA and Charlie Hyman, founder of Bloomsbury Football, have teamed up to drive inclusivity and access to football, particularly for girls, in London. Their partnership is setting a powerful example of how a global football mission can translate into local reality. Together, they are not just expanding the game but also using it to transform lives.
The Lowdown:
LALIGA’s Vision: LALIGA’s mission goes beyond being a global football powerhouse. It’s about inspiring people through football’s core values—teamwork, discipline, and fair play—and creating opportunities for young people to get involved.
Building Local Roots: LALIGA has partnered with Bloomsbury Football, a North London-based community organization, to put its values into action. Bloomsbury Football is actively working to grow football programs for young people, focusing on inclusion and gender equality.
The Push for Girls' Football: A key focus for Bloomsbury is encouraging more girls to play football. In its early stages, only boys were signing up for Bloomsbury’s programs. But after introducing girl-specific activities and working with ambassadors like Vicky Lozada, a former Spanish national team player, the impact has been significant. Over 100 girls participated in the finals of a recent football event.
Expansion Goals: Bloomsbury plans to roll out its programs across 15 London boroughs by 2028, aiming to involve 1,000 young people in each community. The ambitious goal is to have 10,000 girls and 10,000 boys playing football within that time frame. It’s not just about getting kids to play—Bloomsbury is also focused on making sure the social impact of these programs is felt through confidence-building and personal development.
"We found that it's harder to get a girl to play than a boy, but the social impact is greater when you do." – Charlie Hyman
Breaking Barriers for Girls: Getting boys involved in football is relatively straightforward: remove cost barriers, and they’ll show up. But for girls, it’s more complex. Bloomsbury has had to get creative, launching a billboard campaign featuring testimonials from young female players around King’s Cross to challenge societal perceptions. On a more granular level, they’ve arranged carpools to help girls physically get to the football sessions. This two-pronged approach—high-level inspiration combined with practical solutions—is key to reaching the goal of 10,000 girls playing football.
"You won’t fill a session just by removing barriers for girls—you need to inspire them to play." – Charlie Hyman
LALIGA’s Global Perspective: For LALIGA, the UK is more than just a football market. Keegan Pierce sees it as a "window to the world." As the birthplace of the sport, the UK holds a special place in LALIGA’s global strategy. But it’s also a hub that allows LALIGA to reach audiences far beyond Europe. The stories told here—whether about star signings or collaborations with grassroots organizations like Bloomsbury—resonate across Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
"The UK is a global hub for football storytelling, reaching fans far beyond its borders." – Keegan Pierce
What’s Next?
Q: How do you plan to get 10,000 girls playing football?
Charlie: We’re working on both large-scale campaigns, like our billboard series, and small-scale solutions, like helping parents with transport to get their daughters to football programs. We know the barriers are different for girls than for boys, and we’re committed to addressing them head-on.
This partnership between LALIGA and Bloomsbury Football shows how football can be a force for change, not just for players but for entire communities. By working together, they are breaking down barriers to entry, inspiring the next generation of footballers, and making sure that football is a sport for everyone, no matter their gender or background.
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