Local community heroes are being celebrated up and down the country as the EFL, EFL Trust, 72 EFL clubs and their Community Club Organisations take part in the first-ever EFL Community Weekends.  

Across the period, clubs, managers and players will mark the incredible work that community staff and volunteers deliver 365 days per year, while participants from community programmes will also be honoured by special visits from players and matchday activities.  

As part of matchday activations, fans will get the chance to hear from participants that have had their lives changed by their club’s community work and find out more details about the range of projects and ways to get involved.  

Trevor Birch, CEO of the EFL, said: “Community remains a fundamental part of the EFL and its 72 Clubs’ identity, so we are delighted to launch the latest strand of activity in this area – the EFL Community Weekends. The work undertaken by Clubs has a hugely positive impact on the participants of the various programmes and the towns and cities where people live.  

“Football continues to reach parts of local areas that others simply cannot and successfully addresses challenges linked to health, wellbeing, education and employment alongside helping to keep communities connected. We look forward to celebrating this incredible work in front of match-going fans over the two weekends across our network.”  

Liam Scully, Chair of the EFL Trust, said: “Our clubs and Club Community Organisations engage more than 840,000 people from EFL communities all year round. To be able to showcase the club community work as a collective and acknowledge the work of participants and programme leaders, many of whom are volunteers, further highlights the unique ability of our network.” 

The EFL Community Weekends build on the success of the recent EFL Week of Action in November – where the League and its clubs shone a light on the significant impact Club community work has on towns and cities in England and Wales, valued at over £865m a season in the latest community impact report.   

For more information on the EFL Community Weekends and the impact of EFL Club community work please visit www.efl.com