ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on research carried out with participants involved with various support programmes provided by an English professional football club's community engagement arm during the first three months following the emergence of COVID-19 in the UK. This includes projects aimed at adults with poor mental health and young people with multiple vulnerabilities. Using Everton in the Community (EitC) as a case study, the chapter begins by outlining the socio-demographic context of the local area in Liverpool in which the organisation operates. It then further develops Ulrich Beck's thesis of the ‘Risk Society’ in order to frame a discussion about the importance for participants of finding structured routines and trusted relationships through the programmes provided by EitC. Drawing on the ideas of Raymond Pahl, it shows how family-like ‘personal communities’ are formed amongst participants and how this is recognised by EitC in the development of their work and the branding thereof. It is unique in focusing on the meanings given by participants to a range of programmes provided by a football club's community trust, not just during an unprecedentedly difficult time when the COVID-19 pandemic left support services extremely stretched but also during more settled times for most of society.
