Laura Woods takes her football focus back to the grassroots

The sports broadcaster swapped the television studio for a Surrey youth club, joining volunteers to cook for young players as part of an M&S initiative on nutrition in grassroots football.

Laura Woods is more accustomed to discussing football under the lights of some of Europe’s largest stadiums. This weekend, the setting was rather different.

The broadcaster travelled to Farncombe Youth FC in Godalming, Surrey, where she joined volunteers preparing food for young players as part of M&S Food’s Eat Well, Play Well campaign.

There were no television gantries or famous managers waiting to be interviewed. Farncombe is the sort of club upon which much of English football quietly depends. Founded in 1975, it now has more than 670 players across 46 teams, including around 150 girls, and is run entirely by volunteers.

For Woods, who has spent much of her career covering football at its most rarefied level, the visit was an opportunity to turn attention towards the other end of the game.

“Whether these players grow up to play in the park with their friends or for their country, community clubs like Farncombe Youth FC are absolutely vital for the UK’s footballing future,” she said.

Woods began the day at the newly opened M&S Foodhall in Godalming, which the retailer says is its largest in Britain. Alongside M&S senior nutritionist Sophia Thistlethwaite, she collected ingredients before travelling to the club.

There, the pair joined Emma Branson, one of the volunteers who keeps Farncombe running. Branson’s responsibilities extend considerably beyond a single job description. She referees, coordinates pitches and training and also cooks for players on matchdays.

Together they prepared a chicken and rice one pot meal for the young players after training, built around carbohydrates, protein and vegetables.

The appearance forms part of M&S Food’s wider grassroots campaign, for which Woods joins Ian Wright, Jill Scott, Peter Crouch and Rob Beckett as ambassadors.

Behind the celebrity involvement is a practical concern. Research commissioned by M&S among more than 200 grassroots football coaches found that 31 per cent would welcome training to help them offer nutritional guidance, while only 15 per cent currently feel confident advising players or parents.

For volunteers already responsible for training sessions, fixtures, equipment and the considerable administration involved in keeping a youth football club functioning, nutrition has become another consideration.

Woods’s visit was intended to make that task appear rather less complicated.

The meal was informed by nutritional guidance developed by M&S and the FA, designed to help young players understand how protein, carbohydrates and vegetables can contribute to recovery after exercise.

Sophia Thistlethwaite said nutrition played an important part in helping young players perform and feel well, but argued that the principles need not be difficult to follow.

For Branson, the significance extends beyond what children eat immediately after a match.

“Our coaches work hard to create a nurturing environment,” she said. “If the girls see a healthy example set at the club, they’ll take those habits home too.”

That is also where Woods’s involvement makes sense. Her professional life places her at the highly polished end of football, where nutrition, recovery and performance are supported by teams of specialists. At Farncombe, much of the same responsibility ultimately falls to parents and volunteers.

The difference between those two worlds is considerable, but Woods argued that the importance of the grassroots game should not be underestimated.

The FA estimates that grassroots football produces £15.9 billion in social value annually, including £3.2 billion in healthcare savings. Its 2024 research also associated participation among children with fewer cases of obesity, anxiety and depression.

Yet such figures can make something essentially human sound rather abstract.

At Farncombe, co chair Ed Fenner describes the club rather more simply.

“We’re all volunteers and that increases the community feel of the club,” he said. “It brings us all together, it’s like spending time with your friends, like a wider family.”

For one afternoon, Woods became part of that operation too.

The players were asked to deliver their verdict on the food. They gave it ten out of ten.

After years spent asking footballers for their assessment of a performance, Woods could probably appreciate the clarity of the result.