User:Wellardcallard

South Leeds Saint FC (SLS) is an association football club located in Leeds, England. Based in the Middleton area of Leeds, the club caters for players from the age of 14 to open age football. SLS enters several teams in various football competitions in Leeds, such as the Leeds and District Junior, Charles Rice, Leeds Red Triangle and Huddersfield Junior Leagues in addition to other relevant local cups. There are approximately 150 active players in the club.

SLS originated out of Cockburn High School, formerly known as South Leeds Warriors, starting as a Saturday coaching session in February 1999, attracting just 14 young children aged between 7 to 9 years. Due to the interest generated in this training session, within 3 months SLS were working with 35 children. As time went by and more and more children began to attend and with more coaches coming on board, the demand to play matches against other teams became greater, and SLS decided to develop three age groups (Under 7's, Under 8's & Under U9's) and offer these a number of friendly matches to gauge how the children would respond in a competitive environment.

The club grew and results encouraged the management committee to make the decision to enter the first junior team in the Garforth League for season 2001/2002. Through this development SLS attracted more players of all age groups and, by season 2002/2003, were able to enter teams in U9's, U10's, U11's and U12's competitions.

At this stage SLS moved grounds from being based at the Hunslet Warriors Rugby League Club (where SLS operated there until season 2004/2005) in order for the club to grow. Moving to the larger site in June 2005, SLS relocated to the ground currently behind Middleton Leisure Centre. As a result of this move many of the players were able to walk to training, and SLS were in a position to attract more children due to the large residential area.

SLS achieved the prestigious Charter Standard Award from the FA during the summer of 2008.

The club has had several links with professional clubs over the years such as Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley FC, Manchester United FC and Huddersfield Town.

Website
http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/southleedssaints01/