In 2000, Steve Thorne founded Pace Youth F.C. for his son Sam and his friends as it was too late in the pre-season for them to get into any of the local teams and it just grew from there with overwhelming interest. 2006 saw the club grow further and develop a partnership with Testwood School which is now our base for training and league matches. This allows us to offer some of the most advanced facilities for youth football in the area, boasting an all weather flood-lit 3G artificial grass surface, storage facilities for equipment and goals and a refreshments hut.
The club has continued to grow from in the following years and we now have Mixed teams in the Eastleigh and District Mini Soccer League, Southampton and District Tyro League, City of Southampton Youth Football League and Girls teams in the Hampshire Girls Youth Football League.
Over the years we have become known to many professional clubs in the surrounding area and as a direct result teams have been invited to play friendlies at their training facilities giving the players a unique opportunity to experience playing against Youth Academies such as Bournemouth, Southampton, Reading and Chelsea, with some players even being offered contracts at various pro clubs.
Today, Pace is an FA Chartered Standard Club – the highest affiliation level for a youth club. We are administered by a Committee and are funded by players subscriptions, sponsorship and occasional fund-raising events – such as the annual Pace Youth Tournament. We run teams at every age group from Under 7s to Under 18s. We also provide our Pace Minis, an introductory football session for Under 5s and Under 6s to form our new teams for Under 7s.
Pace Youth have also been leaders in growing girls football, building 7 teams inside of 4 seasons. Girls within the club have more opportunities to play football at the level that suits them.
In 2018 Pace won Charter Standard Club of the Year!
Affiliations
