Paint the town Green
Changing your team colours after 42 years as a football club is a pretty big deal. But when you’re called Coton Green, it does somehow feel like the natural thing to do. Having played in red since the club’s foundation back in 1982, in the coming season Coton have indeed gone green.
Based in Tamworth, which lies to the north east of Birmingham, Coton Green boasts 18 teams – three senior mens’, one senior ladies’ and 14 across the junior category – with around 260 players involved in total. Add on some 40 coaches plus volunteer staff and Coton is a big enterprise. Aaron Cartwright has been Coton’s club secretary for the last five years and is one of four family members that are the backbone of the club. His elder brother is the chairman, another brother is the treasurer and his dad is the facilities manager and groundsman.
Family first
The ‘family’ theme continues across all those involved with Coton. Aaron says that the club has resisted adding too many new junior teams as they want all of them to be able to play at the home venue, so everyone feels part of the club. As well as the main pitch, there are several other grass pitches to accommodate all the different age groups on a Saturday morning. Players start in the ‘Mini Kickers Development Centre’ for four to seven-years olds, then they go into the development football from seven to 11 and from that into competitive football from 12 years up. Aaron says that:
“We have a target to get two or three youth players per season into the senior setup (the first team plays in Division One of the Midland Football League - Step 6 of the football pyramid) and we’ve been quite successful in that. It’s about giving those kids a path to play in non-league football, hopefully at a higher level.”
As for Coton Green’s medium-term ambitions, Aaron says:
“We Have a two-pronged, five-year growth plan. There’s the junior element where we want to grow the number of teams in both the girls’ and boys’ pathways to generate players for the senior teams. On the senior side, we aim to reach Step Four in the next five years.”
Teamwork makes the Dream Work
Funding is, of course, always an issue for a football club, but Coton Green pride themselves in being financially self-sufficient. While they have had whole-club sponsorship at times in the past, Aaron recognises that involves asking for a large amount of money in one go. Instead:
“Each team is tasked with finding their own sponsors and historically that’s worked well, bringing in sponsorship in smaller pockets. With 260 players and their family members and friends, that’s a big network to tap into.”
New season, new kit
Turning to the new kit, the senior teams have already moved to green this season, while the junior teams will have a year’s grace – a very sensible approach that will avoid parents having to buy new kit in one go. From the 2025-26 season, all teams will have green kits. Having made the decision to switch to new colours, why did they choose Kappa as their suppliers? Aaron says that:
“We were impressed by a presentation Kappa did at a Midlands Football League meeting where they showed what they could offer. We thought that their kit designs for other clubs looked really smart. To us it’s a brand that’s a little bit different from the usual. Kappa offers something that stands out and looks really good.”
Aaron says that design was a key driver:
“Our previous kit suppliers mainly provided off-the-shelf kit. And what I found when looking at pricing from the three big global brands is that you’re really getting a basic level of kit design for the same sort of price. Basically, plain models that don’t stand out from the crowd. With Kappa though, for that price we were getting a bespoke design. And we received a really good service on that front. The Kappa guys deserve a pat on the back for that.”
To make sure they had buy-in from all in the club, Kappa provided five or six designs with different patterns. Aaron says:
“We had a vote in the club to see which one people liked best. Since we were going to a new colour and design we wanted to make sure that everyone was consulted.”
So how has the new kit been received by players and supporters? Aaron says:
“They’ve absolutely love it – the squad were over the moon. We’re moving to a well-known brand and to a smart design and they’ve been really impressed by what’s been produced.”
