The Grantham Link Services Youth Football League, as it was rather long windedly known back then, was formed in 1990 under the auspices of the local Fire Brigade, Police, and Youth services. The hope was that it would give the youngsters who lived in certain areas of Grantham something of interest with which to become involved and hence curb the number of hoax calls being received at the police and fire stations.

Initially there were only some 5 or 6 teams. However, those that there were adopted real gung ho names. Names like Ropsley Rockets, Tennyson Terriers, Earlesfield Racers and the ominous sounding Ancaster Assassins. Unfortunately over the intervening years it seems that names like Somerby Foxes and the rest became "uncool". Uncool that is until 1999 and the arrival of Mini Soccer. These little guys were not putting up with your drab "Uniteds" or mundane "Rovers". Not likely. Consequently there developed positive menageries of Lions, Tigers, Panthers and Cougars. We had whole aviaries of Eagles, Kestrels, Falcons and Kites and veritable airfields of Harriers, Typhoons and Tornados. And fortunately some of those wonderful names are still being used.

From those small beginnings the Grantham Youth Football League, as it is now known, has, like Toppsie, “just growed and growed”. There are now over 70 teams affiliated to the alliance in age groups ranging from 6 to 16 and it takes care of much of the junior football requirements in the south of the county. As well as the league championships to play for, every age group from under 9 upward has its knock out cup competition and a shield tournament for teams knocked out in the early rounds of the cups. Certainly of equal importance to all the other trophies is the Sporting Team Award. This is presented to the team adjudged above all the others, by all the others, to have played not only within the rules but also within the spirit of the game. These awards, because there is one for each division as well as the overall winner, are assessed on the principles outlined within the FA Respect initiative, and include marks for the standards shown by the team management and supporters.

The league has seen myriad changes over the years, many of which have been passed down by the Football Association. They include the afore mentioned Respect campaign. Also the Safeguarding Children programme, necessitating the appointment of County, League and Club Welfare Officers together with the requirement that every adult officially connected to a club be CRB checked. Then there is the FA Club Charter Standard award, which ensures that all GYFL clubs adhere to the very exacting criteria of behaviour and procedure laid down by the FA. However most importantly on the 26th of April 2011 between two of the leagues Cup Finals and in front of a large crowd at the Meres Stadium Grantham, the league was awarded The Football Association’s League Charter Standard, making it, at the time of writing, only the second alliance in the whole of Lincolnshire to have been granted this prestigious honour. It is a tribute that will long into the future, quite rightly, be looked on with a great deal of pride by everyone connected to the league

The league's catchment area now extends from Navenby in the north to Ketton in the south and from Melton Mowbray to the west over as far as Leasingham in the east, all a little different from the early days when most teams could walk to away games. And yes, having their own football league did seem to lessen the interest in making nuisance calls, which hopefully has improved the lot of the Grantham constabulary and fire fighters.

Updated 8th May 2011