One of our newest franchisees began his brand new venture recently and has declared the venture so far, “a huge success”.

Former Birmingham City, Northampton and Cheltenham player, Jerry Gill – a veteran of more than 250 Football League appearances – took on the franchises for the Yate and parts of Bristol, and as he told us before Christmas, he did so with the intention of including older people playing football in indoor venues, to help improve their mental health.

Now the first of the leagues has kicked off and Jerry is delighted, explaining: “Yate Leisure Leagues Indoor 5-A-Side has now been up and running for several weeks and proved a huge success.”

After two weeks of action, the league – which will be able to start a second division soon – has seen almost 100 players return to the sport, which adds Jerry, was always the plan: “The games have been competitive, fun, enjoyable and played in good spirits,” he said.

The community nature of the leagues has really come to the fore, which has been one of the most pleasing aspects for the Franchisee, as he admitted himself: “As the Area Manager, I have really enjoyed engaging with the players and it has been great to see their families and friends coming along which makes the matchday experience even better.”

It was this feeling of togetherness that is almost a hidden benefit of the leagues, but one that is important: “We see this so many times across the country,” said Jon D’Arcy, Franchisee Support Manager for Leisure Leagues, who worked with Jerry to assist him in setting up the competition and saw the special buzz of the opening night for himself.

Now its onto the next venture for Gill, as the Leisure leagues Franchise model allows for multiple competitions to grow quickly. He is planning to take advantage of this, by bringing his indoor football vision to Kingswood Leisure Centre in Bristol, with the league kicking off soon.

The Leisure Leagues Franchise Scheme has been operating for over a decade, and has seen hundreds of people make money from the nations passion. If you’d like to join them and run your own football business, like Jerry Gill, click here:

You can find information on the league in Yate here

Or on the new league coming to Kingswood here:

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