With the Kingstonians football club moving out of Kingston from its shared grounds with Raynes Park Vale FC to the Robert Parker Stadium in Surrey, local resident Adam Smith, who has been a football coach for several years, recently decided to set up a new football club in the borough.

The former local Little League and Richmond and Kew FC coach started scouting players for Kingston Football Club earlier this year.

Speaking about why he decided to set up the local club, Smith told Nub News: "So, I've been coaching for several years. I started doing Little League football, then under-18s, and then I did some men's football for another local team in Richmond.

"But I just felt that the rising costs for the players and families actually to join a football team were too much, and the way players and families were being greeted, it just didn't sit right with me how grassroots community football was going.

"So, I've been thinking about it [setting up my own club] for a few years and thought 'this is the right time for me to start my own team and get the right support for the club to allow the team to be more accessible, cheaper and with a better way of running a community club."

Smith said he decided to set up his club in Kingston because he lives in the borough and "it makes sense".

He added there was previously no men's Saturday grassroots football team in Kingston, especially as Kingstonian FC "plays at a very high level and is not accessible for real low-level grassroots football", and, of course, it moved out of the borough.

Smith said: "Kingstonian's move isn't why I started Kingston FC, but it allowed me to really promote the team in a different light - that we are the only men's grassroots football team or Saturday football team, I should say.

"But the main reason I started the team is purely that I live in Kingston.

"I love Kingston and wanted to be able to create a team that would not only give the community of Kingston someone to support, but be able to use our standing in the community to support it by helping out with fundraising events, doing some fundraising for certain local charities, etc."

Currently Kingston FC is for over-18s, though Smith said that he hopes to expand into youth football with an under-18s team next season.

"It's just a lot harder to set up because you have to have a lot of safeguarding in place," he said.

"And there are other clubs within Kingston that do youth football. So the market for players would have been a lot less."

The coach explained that he has also been doing more coaching for men's teams recently, so wants to focus on that for now and get the team up and running before it starts its first season in September.

He added that he also hopes to expand into women's and disability football in the future too.

When Smith first started recruiting for Kingston FC back in February, he had 60 players show interest in the trials, and over 10 weeks, he managed to whittle that down to 25 players for the upcoming season's squad.

Kingston FC currently trains in the park at the YMCA Hawker Centre, but Smith says his "ultimate goal" is to eventually train at Kings Meadow, the former home grounds for Chelsea, once he gets "this team to a decent level of football and the financial backing".

Speaking about the team's pre-season training, Smith said: "Training's been going really well. When we did the trial selection, and we looked at players - I'm a big believer in commitment over ability - we chose players that maybe weren't some of the best footballers that came to the trials, but they had the right attitude.

"They showed the most commitment to wanting to be part of what it is I'm trying to build. So in turn, that means the players that have been coming to training are really invested.

"They've really put a lot of hard work into trying to get fitter and understand what it is I want for my team. We've had a couple of pre-season games which haven't gone so well. We haven't won a game yet.

We've drawn one and lost three. But players are turning up. They're committed to trying to get better. And that's all I can ask at the moment.

"It's pre-season, and we're a brand new team. It's just about trying to get the players to get to know each other, build that bond between them, and allow myself and my three coaches to just look at things where certain players might need to be improved, things they need to improve themselves and as a team.

"It's about just getting the players to do what it is we need. So overall, it's been pretty positive."

Kingston FC has already played against some big grassroots teams in its pre-season matches, including Smith's former team Richmond and Kew, which he said is "probably the biggest non-league team in the area".

Smith added: "They're in Step Seven, and we're starting next season in Step Nine. So, we're two divisions below them. Step Seven is the beginning of the English football pyramid."

Kingston FC has also played against Cranley, which is in Step Seven too.

"That was a really tough game," Smith said.

He added: "So we've played a couple of real high-profile, good teams. We started to play some teams that are not in such high leagues at the moment. So yeah, we've tested ourselves the first couple of games, for sure."

The football coach has been playing the sport since he was seven years old.

But he is now 52 and so stopped playing six or seven years ago.

His first coaching gig was with Kingston Little League, which he did for a couple of seasons, before he was approached to coach the under-18s team for Moxborough Park Football Club.

He also did a couple of seasons there before going on to coach Richmond and Kew's under-28s, under-23s, and men's first teams, where he helped them get promoted to Step Seven.

Smith said: "So after that, I decided to start my own team, but not being able to play football was really not nice. So I'm living that passion I've got for football through coaching.

"I didn't think I'd ever run and create my own team. It's a lot of hard work, but it's such a passion of mine. I just love being involved in football."

While starting Kingston FC was Smith's idea and something he says he is "really passionate about doing", he has had help from his now 12-person committee, including fundraising and social media teams and sponsors from local businesses like Banquet Records, which Smith said "was an unbelievable coup for the team."

He added: "That sponsorship allowed me to pay for the kit and training equipment."

Speaking about the new team, Banquet Records' founder, Jon Tolley, told Nub News: "I think there's a gap for a decent men's football team in Kingston - somewhere to go and watch a team and feel a part of something. The season starts in September, and it's really early days, but there's a buzz around it all. Banquet is the shirt sponsor.

"I'm super impressed with Adam and what he's been trying to do."

Natterjacks in Kingston is also sponsoring the team, as well as CLS Security Solutions.

"They've all invested money, which has allowed me to get all the equipment I need, Smith said.

"All of those sponsors are part of the committee as well. So, without their input and their support and ideas - they all seem to have that same passion and commitment that I've got - I wouldn't have been able to get this team moving in the right direction.

"So, it's not a job that I've done on my own. I cannot take all the credit or any of the credit really for doing this club. It's been a team effort for sure."

Smith also has three other coaches helping him, who are from Kingston too.

He said: " Without their support, there's no way I could have done this on my own. So it's all well and good me having that idea, but unless I had the buy-in from local people, who are all from Kingston, I couldn't have done this."

Kingston FC hosted a fundraiser with karaoke and a raffle at The Fighting Cocks last Friday (7 August).