Garstang Welcome Junior Section
Mon 3rd November 2025 | Garstang | By Martin Fallon
Garstang Football Club have announced that Garstang Junior Football Club have joined their club and become Garstang FC Junior Section, pending Football Association approval.
Garstang Junior Football Club were established in 2023, the first time for a long period that there had been junior football provision in the town of Garstang itself. The club has gone from strength to strength in a short space of time, with now 10 teams from u6 to u14. The club were named Sports Team of the year in 2024 by Garstang Town Council for their work. Alongside their five boys teams, they are key in developing girls' football locally, with 5 girls' teams and their u14s girls playing at The Riverside on a Sunday morning.
Their teams play at pitches across the town, including Nateby Primary School, St. Mary and St. Michael's Primay School, Garstang Community Academy and Garstang Community Primary School. We look forward on building on those links with schools as part of wider participation strategy, with positive initial discussions having already taken place with a couple of schools.
Over the past year or so, Garstang have been proactively taking steps to form greater links with junior teams in order to encourage more participation with both the sport and the club, with particular successes with Garstang's Festival of Football and Soccer Schools, working closely with Neil Beesley and Warren Salisbury to achieve this. The aim is to improve the pathway for young, local players into both the Reserves, which has a particular emphasis on developing these players, and the First Team competing semi-professionally. Alongside this, Garstang will look to establish a pathway for the girls' teams to progress into becoming the first women's team. As a club, Garstang now have teams ranging from under-6s all the way up to Walking Football and their over-65s.
The existing committee will continue to manage Junior Section, and a representative will sit within the wider-club structure, as with the Walking Football Section, details of which will be announced once finalised. A member of the club board will also attend Junior Section meetings.
Former Garstang FC player and manager Neil Beesley has been working to build bridges with Garstang FC over the past couple of years while remaining actively involved in junior football within the area. It's a cause he feels strongly about — believing that greater unity between the senior and junior setups is vital for the town's sporting future. Neil's vision is to see a fully affiliated senior and junior section under the Garstang FC banner, which could also unlock additional funding opportunities to support the town's continued growth. "Ultimately, I'd love to see one large junior section running under Garstang FC," he says, "similar to the rugby and cricket clubs, both of which have benefited hugely from a consistent flow of talented local players."
Warren Salisbury, the Chairman and one of the founders of Garstang Juniors, said on this announcement: "This is an exciting time for the children of Garstang and surrounding areas to be part of a new phase in the town. From having reception age groups and watching them journey through grassroots into playing for their local football club was the ultimate aim of setting up Garstang Juniors and with thanks to Garstang FC this has become possible, we have come a long way in such a short time and would like to thank all the parents and volunteers for backing us and making this possible. I hope that we can continue on this trajectory as part of the Garstang FC family."
Garstang FC Chairman, Adrian Wilding commented: "As a club, we have always prided ourselves at being at the heart of the community. Last year, we made the decision to expand our activities within the community, and we identified youth football as a way to both boost engagement and participation with the club and improve the pathway for young, local players into the club's existing adult teams. This has been the focus of our Reserve Team the last couple of years where we have seen a young group just starting out in adult football make huge strides in their personal development and by having junior teams beneath this, it will hopefully mean that more players will continue to play for the club.
"This does not mean exclusivity for those players who come through however, as a club we will continue to work closely with other existing junior teams in the area, as we have done for many years. The Festival of Football and Soccer School initiative over summer improved our engagement with younger people and families and we will continue with these events, along with others to do more for that group. This now means as a club, we have teams from u6s, right up to Walking Football over 60s.
"I'd like to thank everyone involved in the club for their hard work in building to where we are now. The Walking Football Section in particular has boomed over the last few years and I thank all involved for their hard work. I hope that with time, we can replicate that with the junior section, which already has incredibly strong foundations and momentum. The board and I look forward to continue to work with Warren, Neil, Nickie, Grant and the rest of the committee to build on their successes to drive the whole club forward."
Garstang Welcome Junior Section
Mon 3rd November 2025 | Garstang
By Martin Fallon
Garstang Football Club have announced that Garstang Junior Football Club have joined their club and become Garstang FC Junior Section, pending Football Association approval.
Garstang Junior Football Club were established in 2023, the first time for a long period that there had been junior football provision in the town of Garstang itself. The club has gone from strength to strength in a short space of time, with now 10 teams from u6 to u14. The club were named Sports Team of the year in 2024 by Garstang Town Council for their work. Alongside their five boys teams, they are key in developing girls' football locally, with 5 girls' teams and their u14s girls playing at The Riverside on a Sunday morning.
Their teams play at pitches across the town, including Nateby Primary School, St. Mary and St. Michael's Primay School, Garstang Community Academy and Garstang Community Primary School. We look forward on building on those links with schools as part of wider participation strategy, with positive initial discussions having already taken place with a couple of schools.
Over the past year or so, Garstang have been proactively taking steps to form greater links with junior teams in order to encourage more participation with both the sport and the club, with particular successes with Garstang's Festival of Football and Soccer Schools, working closely with Neil Beesley and Warren Salisbury to achieve this. The aim is to improve the pathway for young, local players into both the Reserves, which has a particular emphasis on developing these players, and the First Team competing semi-professionally. Alongside this, Garstang will look to establish a pathway for the girls' teams to progress into becoming the first women's team. As a club, Garstang now have teams ranging from under-6s all the way up to Walking Football and their over-65s.
The existing committee will continue to manage Junior Section, and a representative will sit within the wider-club structure, as with the Walking Football Section, details of which will be announced once finalised. A member of the club board will also attend Junior Section meetings.
Former Garstang FC player and manager Neil Beesley has been working to build bridges with Garstang FC over the past couple of years while remaining actively involved in junior football within the area. It's a cause he feels strongly about — believing that greater unity between the senior and junior setups is vital for the town's sporting future. Neil's vision is to see a fully affiliated senior and junior section under the Garstang FC banner, which could also unlock additional funding opportunities to support the town's continued growth. "Ultimately, I'd love to see one large junior section running under Garstang FC," he says, "similar to the rugby and cricket clubs, both of which have benefited hugely from a consistent flow of talented local players."
Warren Salisbury, the Chairman and one of the founders of Garstang Juniors, said on this announcement: "This is an exciting time for the children of Garstang and surrounding areas to be part of a new phase in the town. From having reception age groups and watching them journey through grassroots into playing for their local football club was the ultimate aim of setting up Garstang Juniors and with thanks to Garstang FC this has become possible, we have come a long way in such a short time and would like to thank all the parents and volunteers for backing us and making this possible. I hope that we can continue on this trajectory as part of the Garstang FC family."
Garstang FC Chairman, Adrian Wilding commented: "As a club, we have always prided ourselves at being at the heart of the community. Last year, we made the decision to expand our activities within the community, and we identified youth football as a way to both boost engagement and participation with the club and improve the pathway for young, local players into the club's existing adult teams. This has been the focus of our Reserve Team the last couple of years where we have seen a young group just starting out in adult football make huge strides in their personal development and by having junior teams beneath this, it will hopefully mean that more players will continue to play for the club.
"This does not mean exclusivity for those players who come through however, as a club we will continue to work closely with other existing junior teams in the area, as we have done for many years. The Festival of Football and Soccer School initiative over summer improved our engagement with younger people and families and we will continue with these events, along with others to do more for that group. This now means as a club, we have teams from u6s, right up to Walking Football over 60s.
"I'd like to thank everyone involved in the club for their hard work in building to where we are now. The Walking Football Section in particular has boomed over the last few years and I thank all involved for their hard work. I hope that with time, we can replicate that with the junior section, which already has incredibly strong foundations and momentum. The board and I look forward to continue to work with Warren, Neil, Nickie, Grant and the rest of the committee to build on their successes to drive the whole club forward."
