Northleach Juniors Football Club are playing a numbers game.

And the numbers game they are playing is not about points or goals, it’s about players.

Northleach is a small market town in the heart of the Cotswolds, some 10 miles from Stow-on-the-Wold, and, as such, finding sufficient players to keep the club going is the pressing concern.

“That’s the biggest challenge,” said club chairman Jon Farley. “There’s quite a small population in Northleach and the surrounding villages and there are so many other activities – rugby, horse riding, shooting, cross country running.

“There isn’t a strong footballing culture in the Cotswolds.”

What there is at Northleach Juniors Football Club is a willingness to give youngsters the opportunity to play the round ball game.

The club run a soccer school for under-5s through to under-7s and run two league teams – one at under-9s and the other at under-11s.

“Hopefully we’ll have an under-8 team next year as the older ones come out of the soccer school,” added Farley. “That’s how clubs like ours grow. As a club we’re always looking for players and our whole ethos is to give kids access to football.

“We’re not a results driven club.”

The club train and play their home games at King George V playing field which is next door to Northleach Primary School – the under-9s, who are coached by Allan Walker, play in the Cotswold District League, and the under-11s, coached by Colin Shaw, play in the North Wiltshire League.

Farley has been involved with the club for the past six years and has done his fair share of coaching over the years before becoming chairman.

“Like most football club officials and coaches I got into it through my children,” he explained. “Initially it was through my daughter, Lauren. She no longer plays but my two boys, George and Sean, have both played at Northleach”

George now plays age group football for Charlton Rovers while Sean is doing the same for Bourton Rovers.

They, like a good number of others, benefitted from the club’s soccer school which these days is run by Jamie Chalmers and currently has 20 to 25 youngsters.

Chalmers, along with a good many other people, gives plenty to the club of course.

Farley runs the club’s website and was assistant chairman before taking on the top job, while David Louisson looks after the club’s finances and Helen Sharman-Jones is the club’s secretary.

Not so long ago the club had 90 players across six or seven age groups but despite the obvious drop in numbers, Farley, a management consultant who lives in Bourton-on-the-Water, is determined that the club should have a bright future.

“I think it is important that the club keeps going,” he said. “It’s a good thing for the community as well as the kids.

“We try to engage in community events where we can and the club brings kids together from the surrounding villages – Andoversford, Chedworth, Bourton-on-the-Water, Rissington, Naunton, Cold Aston and Sherborne.

Now that his own children are playing for other clubs, Farley admits that he may try to find someone else to take over the job of chairman which he says is “not a huge role”.

That’s not going to happen just yet though because there are a few things Farley wants to get in place before handing over the baton. Most important of these will be to attain FA Charter Standard which he says is “the FA’s quality seal of approval”

Anyone whose child would like to play for Northleach Juniors should visit the club’s website www.northleachjfc.co.uk.