Kingstonian FC

Mind in Kingston, Kingstonian FC and Kingstonian Supporters Club are also working together to raise awareness of mental health issues within the Royal Borough of Kingston and surrounding areas. This will include themed home matches at Kingstonian, highlighting the importance of promoting emotional well-being and the work of Mind in Kingston.

Mind in Kingston offer a safe and non-judgmental environment for local people to play football and learn new or improve their existing skills, meet new people and improve their physical and mental well-being. Mind in Kingston also offer a wide range of other support and details of this can be seen on their website:

http://www.mindinkingston.org.uk

Who is the Football Project for?

The football project is open to anyone 18 and over with mental health issues, and who lives, works or studies in the Royal Borough of Kingston.

How can people join?

Potential players can be referred by their GP or someone from the local Recovery and Support team. People can also make self-referrals. Mind will take some details about their mental health condition so they can work out how to best support them.

New players are initially offered a six-week trial, after which they are invited to become full members.

You can ask for more information for yourself, a family member, friend or neighbour, or self refer by e-mailing Johnny Murwill on johnny@mindinkingston.org.uk or by phone on 020 8255 3939.

How often does the group meet?

The team meets every Monday between 4pm and 5pm at Kingsmeadow in Kingston.

"The exercise is good for me and my mental health and well-being."

Training sessions and matches are always facilitated by a member of staff or a senior football volunteer. There are opportunities to access training and get qualifications such as coaching and refereeing.

Leagues and Competitions

As part of the team, players will also have the opportunity to take part in local amateur leagues and football competitions. These are the Surrey Community League and Surrey FA's "Football for All". From 2022-23 there is expected to also be a Kingstonian Mind United women's team. There are also friendly matches with other amateur teams throughout the season and participation in one-off tournaments. The Project also hosts an annual tournament in the summer which is organised by players with support from Mind in Kingston.

"The more I trained, the more I improved which helped build my confidence."

These matches are all designed to help people build their skills, increase confidence and encourage friendship and team building.

Mind in Kingston receives funding to pay for travel and lunch, and will accompany the team to these games.

Wednesday 1st June 2022

The directors of Kingstonian FC have congratulated the players of Kingstonian Mind United on an excellent performance in the season just gone.

The Kingstonian Mind United A and B teams both won Surrey FA "Football for All" 2021-22 Respect awards for their respective divisions. The B team won the second division, while the A team were a creditable second in the top division.

Next season, there are also plans to run a women's team, as Kingstonian's partnership with Mind in Kingston goes from strength to strength.

Friday 4th March 2022

Kingstonian Mind United players are pictured here at Elmbridge XCel sporting the famous red and white hoops. This was while participating in last Sunday's monthly Surrey FA's seven-a-side "Football for All" Tournament.

More details about the Surrey FA's "Football for All" league (including league tables) can be seen at https://surreyfootballforall.weebly.com/ 

Tuesday 20th July 2021

Kingstonian Mind United entered three seven a side teams to Surrey FA’s Summer Football for All tournament that was played at Elmbridge Xcel and came away with the first trophy of the season.

Two of our teams ended up playing each other in the semi final with the winners going on to a 4-0 victory in the final. Another highlight was beating a Sutton United team one nil in a qualifying group match.

Pictured below with trophy and the whole squad together:

Tuesday 7th April 2020

Kingstonian Mind United Update

The Surrey FA’s Football For All League season has been terminated;  with places awarded based on results to date. We saw our own Kingstonian Mind United teams have successful seasons so congratulations are due to them and to Mind in Kingston on this success.

Rianne Elmers , Chief Executive Officer of Mind in Kingston said:

“Congratulations to Kingstonian Mind FC Teams A & B for achieving great results in the Surrey FA Football For All League. Kingstonian Mind FC’s B Team has come top of the Championship League and Kingstonian Mind FC’s A Team made a respectable 4th in the Premiership 1 League. Their hard work and dedication has paid off, thanks to support from Kingstonian FC and our coach Alan Sellers from AFC Wimbledon.

Mind in Kingston is delighted to work with these great partners to support the mental and physical wellbeing our team members, and we are looking forward to celebrating the team’s achievements and to the next season when it safe for all to do so.”

When next season starts, there are plans to increase player recruitment, including establishing a Kingstonian Mind United women’s team. Kingstonian FC are proud of being able to provide some assistance to this excellent football project. We are grateful to the Football Foundation for grant funding that has helped the Club support this programme; with some additional funding coming from Kingstonian Supporters Club.

For more information about our partnership with Mind in Kingston see here:  https://www.kingstonian.com/kingstonian-mind-united

Monday 2nd December 2019

Mental Health Awareness Day on Saturday

This Saturday's game against Merstham is sponsored by the Supporters Club to raise awareness of Mind in Kingston.

Kingstonian FC and Mind in Kingston have agreed on a match in support of the local mental health charity's football project and to raise awareness of their work in our borough. This follows on from Ks having obtained additional funding for the Kingstonian Mind United teams through a successful bid to the "Grow the Game" Football Foundation scheme.

This is for our home game this coming Saturday against Merstham, with the match being sponsored by the Kingstonian Supporters Club to highlight the excellent work of Mind in Kingston and raise awareness of mental health issues. See here for details of their work: http://www.mindinkingston,org.uk

K's supporters will be raising funds for the football project through a bucket collection and donating the proceeds of the 50/50 and Golden Goals competitions.

Kingstonian Chairman John Fenwick commented that: "Mental health problems can affect any one of us, and Kingstonian Football Club are very keen to assist by raising awareness and in providing a platform for football through the Kingstonian Mind United joint project. We look forward to welcoming our guests on Saturday."

This initiative will hopefully become an annual event as part of our ongoing community partnership. Representatives of the local charity and players from Kingstonian Mind United will be attending the Merstham match as the club's guests. This initiative is being further supported by a visit from the Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Margaret Thompson.

Thursday 10th October 2019

Enhanced Training Facilities and Away Strip

Kingstonian Mind United currently have a training session every Monday afternoon using an all weather pitch at Kingsmeadow Athletics and Fitness Centre.

Our new partnership with Mind in Kingston is attracting back some players who have not been for a while and also some new participants. Basically the pitch is getting too crowded.  It has therefore been agreed to hire a second pitch with a contribution from our “Grow the Game” Grant from the Football Foundation covering the first twelve weeks. The Ks Supporters Club will be undertaking some fundraising to supplement this including at the sponsored match at home to Merstham on 7 December.

The Kingstonian Mind United A and B teams already have new kit with the famous red and white hoops and the club are also now providing yellow away shirts. All the shirts have the Club’s badge and are also branded for Mind in Kingston using this version of their logo with a white background.

Friday 27th September 2019

Kingstonian and Mind in Kingston have agreed on the date for a match in support of the local mental health charity’s football project and to raise awareness of their work in our borough .  The launch of this new partnership and rebranding their team as Kingstonian Mind United is an important development for our club’s community engagement programme.

We have arranged this awareness raising day for our home game versus Merstham FC on Saturday 7 December. The match has been sponsored by the Kingstonian Supporters Club to help highlight the excellent work of Mind in Kingston and to help raise awareness of mental health issues.

Some of the players from Kingstonian Mind United and representatives of their charity will be attending the Merstham match as the Club’s guests. There will be a bucket collection to raise fund for the team and proceeds from the 50/50 and Golden Goals raffle tickets will be added to this.