Brixham AFC received a grant from Pitching In's Trident Community Fund in March and have since created a regular Mini Kickers session on Saturday mornings as part of a project to encourage primary school children to get involved with the sport.

Vice-chairman Alan McCoy said: “It's had a very positive impact on kids in the area.

“There are a lot of clubs in the Torbay region who have got bigger youth sections than Brixham. The net has gone a little bit further afield into areas of Paignton, so we're almost at 60 kids registered.

“We quite often hear people say they didn't know this was even here, which is funny because we think we're the centre of the world and everybody must know us, but they don't.”

Brixham, a town of 16,000 people, has a long history of commercial fishing and boasts a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship, the Golden Hind.

As such, the football club, which was founded after a merger in 2012, are known as the Fishermen and play their games at Wall Park in the east of the town.

“We're starting to get interest from parents about coming to play more organised stuff,” McCoy added.

“It’s definitely had a positive impact community wise from getting people at our club on a Saturday morning, when they wouldn't normally be there.

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“They can have a tea or coffee, and the bacon sarnies are always good. We are building a little community like that.

“It’s all thanks to our volunteer coaches like Graham Legge, Kevin Lovell, and Mickey Cross, as well as Thomas McCoy, Lucas Lovell, and Bella Croft.”

And after a brief foray into Step Four last season, Brixham are back in the Western League, where they currently sit comfortably in mid-table despite the departure of some key players over the summer.

McCoy said: “I think the taste of playing Southern League football was quite good for some. It was a big step up for us that some of us enjoyed and some of us didn't.

“We did get relegated but this season, we're playing some nice football. We've got some young lads who are learning the game alongside some of the older heads in our team. I'd be surprised if we got in the play-offs, but you never know.”