Our Journey
Six seasons. Five promotions. From the very bottom of the grassroots pyramid to champions - and a film that's carried the club's story far beyond South London.
Built from the ground up
Active Sports FC started in 2020 with almost nothing — a brand-new club at the very bottom of the grassroots pyramid, and a belief that football could do more than fill a Saturday.
Founder Joshua Khan had played the game from a young age before moving into coaching. Studying sport business and coaching, he saw how few people from ethnic-minority backgrounds reached the top levels of the game, and set out to build his own way in. Active Sports FC was the result: an inclusive South London club, built from the ground up, with experienced people around it.
What followed was a steady, season-on-season climb — five promotions in six seasons, rising from the foot of the grassroots leagues towards the edge of semi-professional football. In 2025/26 the club went one better: champions, six points clear, and winners of its first-ever League Cup.
But the climb was never only about results. Through its “Active to Pro” pathway, the club has helped players move into the professional game. It has stood by players through injuries and personal challenges, taken young people to tournaments and trials, and brought in a physio and mental-health training to look after the squad as people, not just players.
In 2026 that story reached a wider audience. “All In The Game” — a documentary feature made by Emmy- and BAFTA-winning production company North One with Lillebus Productions — follows the club on and off the pitch, with all of Lillebus’s proceeds going to anti-knife-crime causes that matter to the community.
Six seasons on, Active Sports FC is still the same idea it began as: a place where young people in South London belong, grow and get a real chance. Active. Always.
2020 to 2026
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2020
The club is founded
Joshua Khan founds Active Sports FC in South London, starting at the lowest level of the grassroots game. The aim from day one: build a competitive club that develops talent and genuinely looks after its players.
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2021/2022
First promotion
The climb begins — up out of the bottom division.
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2022/23
Promotion again
Back-to-back progress up the pyramid.
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2023/24
Third promotion
The rise continues.
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2024
Backing for the next step
Long-term support is secured, giving the club the stability to grow on and off the pitch.
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2024/25
Fourth promotion
Four promotions in, and closing on the top of the grassroots pyramid.
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2025/26
Champions, and cup winners
The biggest season yet. Active win the league as champions – six points clear with a +31 goal difference – and lift the club’s first-ever League Cup. Five promotions in six seasons.
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2026
“All In The Game”
A 90-minute documentary feature about the club is made by Emmy- and BAFTA-winning production company North One, with Lillebus Productions. It brings Active’s story – and its anti-knife-crime message – to a far wider audience. Lillebus is donating 100% of its proceeds from the film to anti-knife-crime causes.
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2026
On the edge of semi-pro
Active apply to join the Surrey Premier League for 2026/27 – one step away from semi-professional football, and a long way from where the club began six years earlier.
Active to Pro
The proof of the pathway is the players who've gone on.
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Tyrese FrancoisActive → Fulham FC; made a Premier League debut, now a professional at Wigan Athletic.
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Marley FrancoisActive → Bristol City; now a professional at Auckland FC.
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Antouel ShqutiActive → Real Murcia CF (Spain); secured a professional contract aged 19 in 2026.
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Khiani ShombeFirst-team football for Active at 16; Active → Southampton FC, now signed to Hull City FC.
Plus 10+ other players who've moved into the non-league pyramid, as high as the Premier League.
We're not finished
Every season adds a chapter — and the best of it is the young people who grow up here. Active. Always.
Watch the film