Anna 
A football league in Derbyshire, running for nearly 100 years, faces the risk of being shut down due to a shortage of teams.
Only four teams have signed up to play in the Ashbourne Summer Football League this year, falling short of the eight-team minimum required for the competition.
The league was founded in 1930 to provide farmers with an opportunity to play football during the summer months, as many were unavailable in the autumn and winter due to their work schedules. However, a decline in local participation, driven by younger adults moving away and fewer men playing grassroots football, has led to a drop in the number of teams.
Organisers have now issued an appeal for more teams to join ahead of the March registration deadline.
Patrick Newbold, a member of the league’s organising council, explained that the league was created 95 years ago to accommodate the busy lives of local farmers. “In the winter, they were working away on Sunday mornings, so they couldn’t play football. They designed a league that allowed them to play during the summer nights,” he said.
Newbold believes the reduction in teams is due in part to younger generations moving away to attend university. “Generally, grassroots football doesn’t have the youth coming through, which has made it difficult for these teams,” he added.
Chris Berezia, the league’s media officer, recalled that when he moved to the area in 2005, the league had 13 or 14 teams. “It was vibrant, very competitive. But in the last few years, the number of teams has really dropped off,” he said.
Teams have until mid-March to register for the upcoming summer competition.
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