Powerleague

Back in July 2025, The Business of Football Podcast interviewed former Powerleague CEO, Christian Rose . Since the interview was conducted, the Powerleague brand has continued to grow rapidly in the UK and Ireland. With the continued rise of small sided football, and the expansion of padel brightening their horizon, Powerleague is as active as ever, trying to improve the sport scene in the UK.

Strategy vs reality: early signs of progress

In the interview, Christian mentions several changes that Powerleague is trying to achieve, inorder to streamline the business. The company had been in mass debt, forcing them into a Company voluntary arrangement. However, in 2018, Christian and a new management team were brought in to try to make Powerleague financially viable again. In June 2025, they were acquired by a private equity firm, Broadsword Investment Management. Christian had expressed optimism partnering with Broadsword and it would seem there are certainly some major signs of progress aided by the new backing. A 22.5 million pounds investment from Barclays to fund the continued expansion of the company, has reportedly come through in early 2026. With more money filtering down the business, improving the facilities along with customer satisfaction, progress certainly seems to be inevitable.

Christian also mentioned how Powerleague was actively trying to support the homeless community. ‘Yes we are here to make money and we’re not ashamed of that but equally, we can just help society in some way’. Powerleague is partnered with Liverpool Homeless football club, a charity that sets out to bring sport, health and wellbeing to vulnerable people based in the Merseyside. Powerleague is also affiliated with Stockport County Community Trust and The

Wellspring, providing similar free football sessions to the homeless community. Christian Rose has since retired from his role as CEO, following his interview on The Business of Football Network . John Gillespie, former chief customer, commercial and marketing officer at Powerleague has now taken on the role. It would appear that Christian and John had a shared strategy while steadying Powerleague’s future. Gillespie declared, ‘our ambition is to become thebiggest and the best operator of small-sided sports in the UK and beyond, recognised for our leading facilities and friendly, welcoming clubs’.

Padel expansion

Padel has seemingly taken the UK by storm in the last couple of years. Due to a surge of players, courts are being constructed up and down the country. Powerleague announced they were investing 14 million pounds, expanding padel across the UK in early 2025. With this investment, they hope to open 76 new padel courts including 11 in Scotland. With the courts will also come club houses and bars, ideal for players to socialise in before and after games. Thousands of padel courts have been built and commissioned over the last few years. However, demand for more courts and facilities is still at an incredible high and the Powerleague investment will continue to drive the growth of the UK padel market, as the sport continues to popularise.

Despite the initial positives, some have their issues with the sport sweeping the nation. On some of the Powerleague sites, five-aside pitches will be replaced by the new padel courts. With such a high demand for small sided football, many will be left disappointed that their local pitches are being replaced with another sport they may have no interest in. The price to rent padel courts is also extremely expensive, especially if you are looking for a game in London. In the Shoreditch site for example, padel costs between 50 and 75 pounds to book the court for an hour. The game is therefore too expensive to enjoy for many potential players, which leads to the question, how can company’s like Powerleague make the sport more accessible for those willing to participate?

Small sided football venues

5 and 7-a-side football is rapidly growing as one of the most popular leisure activities in the UK. There are 1.5 million adults a week playing the sport across England. Among those players are 30,000 small sided football teams. These teams are competing in various leagues catered to all standards of footballing ability. The option to play casual or slightly more competitive matches is what makes small sided football so popular. There is also great flexibility with matches, often available all throughout the week depending on your location.

Announced is March 2025, the UK government is actively investing 100 million pounds in sporting facilities. In their pursuit to make sport more accessible and encourage people to play football to keep fit, they have partnered with a number of different recognised organisations. The

Premier League, The FA, Government’s Football Foundation in England, Cymru Football Foundation in Wales and the Football Association in Scotland and Northern Ireland, are all working towards bringing better facilities to those communities that need it most.

The investment will target several different areas to enhance player experience. A large focus is the quality of pitch’s, ensuring playing surfaces are of the highest standard. All weather pitches, are receiving a share of the funding, proving them a consistent reliable surface that accommodate regular use, even in the rain and snow. Along with all weather pitches, they are equipping them with goal posts and floodlights for those cold winter nights.

250,000 pounds has been invested into Powerleague’s Manchester club, as announced in March 2026. They too aim to regenerate their playing surfaces and build a brand new 7-aside pitch, that enhances player experience. With continued investments into their footballing facilities,

Powerleague has a chance of keeping up with the inevitable rising demand of small sided football.

Written by Maximillian Jones