A Gambian professional footballer who played in Iceland during his career and is now coaching youth football in Swindon is the motivation for a plan to raise sports equipment for his home country.

FC Abbeymeads, where he coaches, is collecting old kits, boots and balls to send to the Gambia, to help address the shortage of equipment for village and youth sides in the west African country.

Clint Ricketts, club secretary of FC Abbeymeads, said: “As a grassroots club, we know how hard it is to run as a not-for-profit in the UK.

“So when you hear the stories about what it’s like in Africa – it’s less organised and they are many years behind us – we need to give them as much support as we can.

“We’re trying to speak to other football teams, the Wiltshire Football Association and leagues we’re affiliated to, and ask them if they have any teams that may have folded, disbanded or had new sponsorship, so they have old kit lying around.

“We’re also speaking to parents and our kids to see if they have any kit they’ve outgrown, boots that have life left in them, and decent footballs that are no longer wanted that we can deflate and send out.

“We’re not worried about the volume we get, the more the better, and if we overspill on Gambia we can look towards other African countries.”

As well as gathering the significant quantities of shirts, shorts and socks together – Clint thinks that FC Abbeymeads alone may have 15 boxes of old kit – the club are also looking for companies who can help with sponsorship for shipping the kit to the Gambia.

Speaking about the club’s shy Gambian coach, who did not want to be named, Clint said: “He moved over here to the UK, after playing in Iceland, for family reasons, and he now has a normal day-to-day job, and he loves football.

“He’s a qualified coach so he coaches with us and a couple of other clubs as well.

“We are hoping that our Gambian coach can meet the donations out there and hand them out to whoever we can hand them to out to: village teams and young clubs.”

The aim of expanding football’s reach in Africa is reflective of Abbeymeads’ own plans closer to home. They currently have 16 youth teams, but are planning to launch male and female adult teams, girls’ teams and an ‘Ability Counts’ disabled section next year, coinciding with a move to the Tadpole Garden Village development next year.

With the expansion comes the need for more coaches, and the club say they are able to pay for the qualifications of budding trainers.

Any football equipment can be donated at Justin Tomlinson MP’s office in Orbital Retail Park or PlayFootball in Kembrey Business Park. Alternatively, you can contact Clint at clint.ricketts@fcabbeymeads.co.uk.