A football club built to provide opportunity, working to empower communities.
HOW WE BEGAN
Nirvana FC began its activities in Leicester in the mid-1980s growing out of the Red Star youth group in the city. The club has always had a strong BME holding and discriminates against no one - all are welcome. We are a real local community club for the whole city, particularly for parents and their children from multi-racial inner city backgrounds. Nirvana is a true local melting pot centered around the integrative sport of football.
Starting on Victoria Park in south Leicester in the local Mutual League, Nirvana lacked the resources and the facilities demanded by the local football pyramid. In 1989 the club’s senior adult side moved out of Leicestershire football to join the Central Midlands League. In the early 1990s however, frustrated by the lack of access to resources in adult football in Leicester, club members began to think about developing a very different sort of club focusing on youngsters only. In 1994 Leicester Nirvana was born.
As football for children took off in Leicester in the 1990s, so Nirvana grew asa positive haven for inner city kids and for Leicester children from wider afield. Thanks to its enthusiasm and care the club was able to recruit some of the most talented young players in the city.
history of thurnby nirvana fc
Our senior team currently play in the United Counties Premier Division, Step 5 of the non-league pyramid system. The journey for our senior section only began in 2008. In the build-up to the football season of 2008-09 Thurnby Rangers and Leicester Nirvana initiated a conversation relating to the possibility of the two clubs merging their senior teams to create Thurnby Nirvana football club.
Leicester Nirvana FC and Thurnby Rangers FC had both already established their own identities at the local football level. Thurnby Rangers were a successful senior side in the early 2000s, whilst Leicester Nirvana no longer had a senior side but had an outstanding reputation at mini, junior and youth football levels both locally and nationally.
Over the years, players from the youth teams of Leicester Nirvana have successfully moved up to the senior team, alongside some of our management and committee members.
In the 2015/ 16 season, the senior team of Thurnby Nirvana reverted to the club name of Leicester Nirvana after ground developments and new facilities were installed at Hamilton Park.
WHO WE ARE TODAY
Here at Nirvana we nurture junior talent from the age of 5 years up to under 18’s, as well as adult Seniors reserves and Seniors first team, providing a clear pathway for young players to develop into men’s football in the non-league pyramid system.
Over time the club has developed and restructured, to now include a development club that focuses on providing opportunities for young players aged 5-9 to access structured coaching in a friendly and nurturing environment. The club also has teams that are part of the grassroots leagues systems, from Under 7’s through to adults.
Nirvana is known for developing young, talented players and strong teams, with many of those teams playing at the higher end of league structures.
Today, Leicester Nirvana embodies more than just a football club and aims to be a platform that allows young people to access life-changing opportunities via football and other arenas. With a strong community focus, Nirvana will continue to fuse football and the sporting development of individuals with the wider work of advocacy to influence public policy and the decisions that ultimately affect our members.