GGNP FC Club History

GGNP FC was formed in 1984 season by a group of local friends. The club was first known as Longford FC and operated in the Coventry Saturday league. The club was predominately Asian and about 75% of the players lived in the same street in Foleshill, Coventry . The club was led by Gurdip Shergill who is still around today as our Club Chairman and team manager of the Senior team. The club first entered the U18's Saturday league in 1984/5 and had amazing season, winning 3 out of the 4 trophies The team was managed by Ray Bird (former sports lecturer at Coventry Technical College). The club spirit was set by Ray Bird and his drive and determination to succeed. The same spirit has been adopted by the current committee members. Ray Bird is a honorary member of GGNP FC.

In 1985 the team got promoted to the Coventry District league but struggled to develop and was in financial in trouble. The club was then approached by the local Gurdwara (Temple) GNP which came to it’s aid by offering some much needed financial support. In return the club changed it's name to GNP Sports to give the club a identity within the community. The club became more recognised and started to attracted players, which enable the club to develop and enter two teams (Saturday & Sunday) in the local leagues. One of the clubs major achievements was reaching the Midland Combination league at semi-professional level, first Asian team to do so from Coventry.

In 2006 the founder members of the 1985 team decided that the club was not reaching its full potential and was not making impact into local communities.The decision was then made to restructure the club - hence the name change to Gurdwara GNP Football Club (GGNP FC). The change of name brought the community links closer to the Coventry Sikh temple. Following the election of the new management committee the club developed rapidly driven by Gurdip Shergill, Peter Randhawa, Parlad Sangha and Rashpal Singh. The committee recognised that they had to break barriers within local communities and make the club more approachable and professional to all involved and give everybody an equal opportunity to play football. The committee decided that they needed the support of the local council and The FA in order to develop. This was clearly the turning point as within 11 months the club achieved The FA Charter Standard status at it's first attempt in June 2007. GGNP FC are the first predominately Asian football club in Coventry to achieve this award . We are proud of this accolade.

The committee has ambitious plans to develop the youth structure of the club to ensure continuity at grass root level. This involves working with local communities to scout for talented individuals and also to provide a healthier lifestyle for young people who may not get the opportunity to do so due to social, cultural and financial barriers. We are a multi cultural club and welcome people from all walks of life who just want to play football for fun!

The club currently has one Senior team who play in the Coventry and District Sunday League, one U13's team & one U10's team who play in the John Bryan Sunday League. With the help of all the club members we will be introducing additional teams for the forthcoming season.

Daniel Singh is 16 years old and has been GGNP's FC mascot for the last 10 years. GGNP FC would like to take this opportunity to thank Daniel's Parents Rashpal Singh (who is also our club secretary) and Sandra for their loyal support to the club. Daniel suffers from a rare illness called Hunters disease (MPS 11), it affects one in 150,000 live births . Over a ten year period 39 babies with Hunter Disease were born in the United Kingdom . MPS 11 is even rarer in girls as boys are the main suffers. Children with MPS II are missing an enzyme called iduronate sulphate sulphatase, which helps the breakdown of the sugar molecules cells stored in the body. Due to the missing enzyme the body fails to breakdown the sugar molecules cells, which therefore remain stored in the body causes progressive cell damage. There is currently no cure for MPS 11 and it is a terminal illness.

Daniel's football ability is beyond that of similar MPS 11 suffers, he is mostly seen at the senior team games but does make special appearances at the youth team games and training sessions. All players, members and supporters across GGNP FC acknowledge Daniels unreserved support for the club and he is an ‘inspiration' to us all. Daniel is an honorary member of GGNP FC.

For more information on Hunters disease please click onto http://www.mpssociety.co.uk/hunter.htm