AFC STONEHAM KENYA

AFC Stoneham - Kenya

A remarkable story!

We have posted below an article from the Mozzart Sports Paper highlighting AFC Stoneham - Kenya and the progress being made.

Our club coach,Jacob, returned to Kenya a couple of weeks ago to continue building and moving the project forward which now has four teams.

The progress is quite remarkable and having a hugely positive effect on the local community.

The article is very detailed and quite brilliant so we have just extracted some paragraphs below to give a flavour.....

In a village called Guu, football is being built from almost nothing, and yet somehow from everything.

Coach Jacob is the Chair of AFC Stoneham Kenya and International Lead for AFC Stoneham, a club founded in 1919 that has just recorded its highest-ever league finish, earning promotion to the eighth tier of English football.

He arrived carrying around a hundred donated kits, tops and shorts stitched with a badge that had never been meant for this place. The gesture was simple, but the response reshaped everything.

"We started with just one ball, a patch of very uneven grass and no equipment,” he says. “It’s incredible to see the growth and impact already. We are very excited for what is next.”

Growth here is not abstract. There are now four teams, close to a hundred children involved, and a senior side competing in the sub-county league while junior and girls teams play friendlies across the region.

."The desire and pure love of football from everyone here immediately showed me that this needed to be a long-term project for this community.”

"We very much see ourselves as a Kenyan club with English roots,”

"She’s massively gained confidence and ability,” Dockree says. “She helped keep the girls' heads up in a friendly defeat to Shabana Starlets in December.” The detail is important, not a victory, but a response to defeat. Growth measured, not in scorelines, but in behaviour.

Stacey Nick sees the project through a broader emotional lens. “AFC Stoneham Kenya represents everything beautiful about football,” she says.

“The club is proof that dedication and belief can take you all the way.” Her perspective carries a sense of ownership that reflects the club’s evolution from an introduced idea into a locally embedded institution.

At the same time, AFC Stoneham will play at Wembley Stadium in the FA Vase final, a historic moment for the English club. In Guu, preparations are already underway to ensure the match is watched collectively, turning a distant event into a shared experience.

“This project is proof of how much impact this game we love can really have. To be able to be a part of these kids and this club’s journey is a privilege.”

The connection between a club founded in England in 1919 and a village in Kenya in 2025 is not straightforward. It is shaped by people, by decisions, by moments that could easily have gone another way. But it exists, and it continues to grow. And in Guu, the game goes on.

Our club is so proud to be part of this story having been able to drive the idea and concept with Jacob who has then gone to Kenya and led the project superbly. Well done Jacob!

We are still in the early stages however the journey and progress to date is wonderful!!