About us
History
The adventure started in 1997 in Westerly Ware, a small park by Kew Bridge. Word quickly spread at the local school that there was a kick about on Saturday mornings and more children arrived until there were regularly about 10-12 children.
The following September 1998, as a new school year approached, the children could not wait to resume their Saturday morning football, especially after a long summer break. More and more children began to turn up and their parents were asked to take small groups of 5 and 6 year olds and show them very simple skills, like dribbling, passing and shooting.
As the group grew the club outgrew the site.
That same summer a small group of children went to play in a seven a-side summer tournament. The unnamed team from Kew played their tournament games in an assortment of football shirts and shorts from Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United covered by yellow bibs. By contrast the other teams looked resplendent in their team colours of black and white stripes, reds, greens and yellows and even purple.
Everyone came away from that eye-opening day wanting to play in more tournaments and concluded that the only way forward for the children was to form a ‘proper’ football club.
The West Surrey Youth League was the league to join and to join the league you had to join the Surrey County FA. Forms were filled and documents signed, with the result that the club would run an Under 8 squad and develop an Under 7 squad.
At the same time the new club needed a name. The choice was between Kew Alexandra (after Crewe Alexandra) or Kew Park Rangers, a play on Queens Park Rangers (AKA QPR). As we all lived in Kew, and we did play in the park, it seemed that Kew Park Rangers would fit the bill.
The next problem to resolve was what colours to play in. The team could not play in red as half the players supported Chelsea or Tottenham and we could not play in blue as the other half supported Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool. So the children were asked to come up with a team strip; a playground compromise was reached, the choice was blue and red stripes.
Richmond Council eventually came up with a team pitch and a move to North Sheen Recreational Park on North Road was secured.
And that is how Kew Park Rangers Football Club was born in the summer of 1999.
Kew Park Rangers Awards
BEST FOOTBALL COMMUNITY SCHEME – NON PREMIER LEAGUE 2018
THE QUEEN’S AWARD FOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE 2022
Ethos
The KPR Ethos – Enjoy the Game
Vision: To give all players enjoyment in playing football, no
matter their gender, ethnicity, wealth or ability in a safe
and friendly environment
KPR will achieve this by adopting four pillars:
Open Arms
- If someone wants to join, they will be made very welcome*
- KPR needs volunteers; only with volunteer support can everyone have a place in a team
Fair opportunity to play
- Players will become stronger footballers by playing, and better people by playing in a team
- Players in a squad will have the opportunity to play a similar number of matches in a season**
- Players in a matchday squad should play a fair amount of the match
Competitive squads
- Every team in an age group should be strong enough to compete within its division
- A spread of ability within a team is good, but too large a spread makes it more difficult give fair match time to all players, so hybrid team model will apply post U11
- Movement of players between teams may take place, but this will be for valid football or social reasons*** and will be handled with care, in consultation with the player and their family
The player’s responsibility
Fair opportunity will be given to players who…
- Try their hardest, play fairly and respect coaches, competitors, officials and teammates
- Who attend training as often as they can. We understand school commitments grow with age
- Keep themselves fit enough to play competitively
KPR Game time target: at least half of the game, but coach has discretion
KPR Matches per season target: a similar number to every other player, but coach has discretion
* target maximum player to coach ratio is 15:1 in training. Younger age groups may need a lower ratio. We may need to operate a wait list if there are not enough volunteers. The same is likely to apply with match day squads, but the ratios will vary depending on the age group as younger ages play smaller sided games. E.g. U7/8 play 5 a side, so will have a smaller squad size compared u13 squad playing 11- a-side.
** If we have very large squads, we may ration the total number of matches each member plays, meaning they may be rested for a particular game. However, all squad members will have the opportunity to play a similar number of matches in a season; if a player is unavailable, they may not actually play the same number.
*** Valid reasons for movement include: a player wanting to play with school friends; the ability of a player being so far from the average within the squad that it makes it impractical to apply the fair match time policy; one squad within an age group not having sufficient players to be viable, and so in need of players, while another has an excess. Players will never be asked to leave based on ability.
Become a volunteer
We are a volunteer run organisation and always need volunteers to help run the club. There are a list of key roles we would like to fill below but this is not exhaustive, so if you would like to help the club in any way please do get in touch. Volunteering to help give boys and girls a great experience of playing sport can be extremely rewarding and for younger members could also help fulfill Duke of Edinburgh requirements.
Coach
All of our match day coaches are volunteers (generally parents). Space for players to play competitive matches on a Sunday can be limited by there not being enough volunteer coaches. So get involved! We will support you every step of the way. It is an amazing experience as you provide young boys or girls a positive environment to enjoy competition, build friendships and keep fit.
Team/age group administrator
There are administrative tasks behind running a team or age group from general communication to player registrations and sending out match details. So if you would like to help your son's or daughter's team directly, and don't want to coach, taking on these administrative tasks for a team or age group is a great way to get involved.
Equipment officer
We need someone to order, distribute and manage equipment for the club. Mostly this is a Summer activity ordering replacement kit and equipment for the upcoming season but it also involves being the point of contact for coaches throughout the season whenever new kit or equipment is needed.
Social events officer
As a large club we would like to run more social events for our members. The primary responsibility of this role is to organise the end of season BBQ and awards (and building a team of volunteers for that purpose) but driving new social activities for the club is another key aspect of this role.
Social media officer
We need someone to maintain our website, update news stories and post regularly on social media. This role could be filled by multiple people, it is something to have fun and be creative with and might lend itself to some younger volunteers (managed by an adult officer role). The aim is to engage more effectively with our members so they feel part of our community.
Fixtures/referees secretary support
We have a fixtures and referees secretary who assigns pitches and refs for matches every Sunday. This takes this one volunteer a couple of hours each week so we would like other volunteers to support this role so it is not something that requires a time commitment every week.
Treasurer support
We have a treasurer who manages all of the club finances. As a club with approximately 50 teams and 1,000 members there is a lot to manage and keep track of in terms of finances, particularly with regular payments being made every week (e.g. refs). So it would be helpful to have support in this role so it is not on the shoulders of one person.