M&S teams up with Ian Wright to fuel the future of grassroots football

Grassroots football has always been about more than results. It is where confidence is built, communities gather and lifelong habits begin. This January, Marks & Spencer is turning its attention to a part of the game that has long been overlooked, what young players eat before and after they step onto the pitch.

The retailer has launched Eat Well Play Well Grassroots Edition, a nationwide initiative designed to help grassroots football clubs across the UK improve their approach to nutrition. Supported by a team of M&S ambassadors including Ian Wright and Jill Scott, the campaign aims to give coaches, parents and players practical tools to fuel performance and wellbeing.

A gap between passion and knowledge

New research commissioned by M&S Food highlights a clear disconnect at grassroots level. One in four coaches do not believe the food culture at their clubs is healthy, while nearly a third say they would welcome training to help them offer nutritional guidance. Despite this, only around one in seven coaches currently feel confident giving advice when parents or players ask.

Parents, meanwhile, expect support. More than a quarter assume coaches have nutritional knowhow, yet many admit they lack confidence themselves in what their children should eat before matches or training. Some even turn to AI tools for guidance, underscoring how confusing the subject has become.

The impact is tangible. A third of coaches believe players would perform better if fuelled properly, yet many report children arriving under fuelled and lacking energy on the pitch.

Bringing experience back to the touchline

For Ian Wright, the initiative is personal. He has spoken openly about how little he understood about nutrition early in his career, and how that changed under Arsène Wenger at Arsenal. Reduced fried food, better balance and a clearer understanding of fuel transformed performance.

That experience now informs his involvement in the campaign. Travelling the UK alongside M&S Innovation and Development Chef Russell Goad, Wright has been meeting grassroots clubs to understand their realities. The focus is not perfection, but practicality. Simple changes. Food children will actually eat. Support that fits real club budgets and time constraints.

From providing M&S vouchers to help clubs offer healthier snacks, to sharing easy recipes designed for groups, the emphasis is on solutions rather than lectures.

Performance that goes beyond the pitch

The case for supporting grassroots football is not just sporting, but societal. According to The FA, the grassroots game delivers nearly sixteen billion pounds in value to society each year, including billions in healthcare savings. Football playing children alone contribute significant reductions in obesity, anxiety and depression related costs.

M&S believes nutrition is a key part of that equation. As senior nutritionist Sophia Thistlethwaite explains, healthy eating can feel overwhelming, yet even small improvements can make a meaningful difference to performance and wellbeing, on the pitch and beyond it.

Through ongoing support, access to development chefs, nutrition analysis and recipe hubs, the initiative aims to elevate what clubs are already doing rather than replace it.

Stories from the grassroots

The campaign will roll out across the coming months, supported by a new content series sharing real stories from grassroots clubs around the UK. Hosted across M&S social platforms including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, the series offers weekly episodes designed to help parents and coaches make informed, realistic choices.

At its heart, Eat Well Play Well Grassroots Edition is about giving young players the best possible foundation. Not through pressure or performance targets, but by helping them feel energised, confident and supported.

In a game where the future is shaped long before the stadium lights, M&S is making a clear statement. If children are going to play well, they need to eat well too.