Who We Are
The UK is seen as the home of football both at the grassroots level and at the elite level. Almost every community has a football team; however, there is still much debate in the UK over the need for more funding of grassroots football. We still rely on the good will of hundreds of volunteers giving up hours and hours of their own time all around the country.
North East Hampshire Youth League (NEHYL) is affiliated to Hampshire FA and is managed by a committee of volunteers who are passionate about football and want girls and boys of all abilities to have the opportunity to join a local youth football club in our area - spanning Basingstoke to Chiddingfold and Petersfield to Finchampstead.
At the start of the 2023-2024 season the league is expecting to have almost 800 mixed gender and girls only teams registered from U7’s through to U18 and in a new and exciting development, we’ve signed up to be at the forefront of developing an effective pathway for youth players to make their way into open age (adult) football.
Our History
1970
1983
1992
1995
1999
2000
2002
2013-14
2019-20
Major interference by Covid-19 from March 2020 causing leagues & cups to be cut short or abandoned.
2020-21
50th Anniversary Season! Unfortunately, celebrations would need to be on hold once again as the season has been seriously interrupted with the pandemic. 60 clubs and 640 teams came together to provide as much grassroots football as possible within government guidelines to end the season.
2021-22
After 2 and a bit years we’ve moved beyond the worst of Covid and thankfully have been able to largely finish the season’s competitions & cups without the interference of governance or government scientists! Looking forward to 2022/23, we’re hoping for a complete lack of external influencing factors and a continued influx of new clubs, teams and especially players
2022-23
A post Covid near total return to normality aside from the weather trying its best to derail things from time to time.
League has attained it’s England Football Accredited League status with 85% of clubs having also achieved their accreditation. Looking forward to re-emergence of NEHYL Girls only football at Under 7 and Under 8. Signs are that the league will continue to see a steady influx of new clubs, teams and players.
2023-24
Always good to finish a season and this one has seen a near total return to normality aside from the weather trying its best to derail things from time to time. The league retained its England Football Accredited League status, as of the time of writing nearly 90% of member clubs have achieved their England Football Accreditation.
Looking forward to 2024/25 season and the continuation of the NEHYL journey will include further development of girls only football at Under 7 to Under 11, a new ‘Flex’ league for older girls along with a continuation of the arrival new clubs, teams and players.
2024-25
Aside from the usual interruptions by the weather, the season finished – 11,000+ players, 900 +/- teams, 70 +/- clubs, 550 referees – all coalescing into some 440 games most weekends. In July 2024, we received the County FAs accolade of League of the Year – all of which is something we all can and should be very proud of.
The league retained its England Football Accredited League status and we’re looking forward to 2025/26 season along with further development of the pathway and transition from U17/U18 football into Open Age (U23) with our partner league Aldershot & District Football league.
England Football Accredited Status
Football leagues and clubs accredited by The FA have positively changed the football landscape over the last 20 years – NEHYL transitioned from being a Charter Standard League to being an Accredited League towards the end of the 2022/23 season. The FA’s program helps NEHYL create and maintain the ideal environments to nurture players, coaches and volunteers and it’s worth noting that NEHYL would be unable to be ‘accredited’ unless the bulk of the clubs and teams who are part of our football family are themselves FA Accredited.