The London Underground has over 402km of track, but how does this compare to the distance covered by your average Piccadilly FC forward?
This is the Transport For London & LU Football League, two divisions played on Tuesday and Thursday nights between September and May at Market Road Pitches in Islington.
To play you must be employed by TFL or an organisation that collaborates with them, with teams including Overground, British Transport Police FC, and Real Metropolitano.
The leagues were born from a dispute in which London Underground sports facilities were sold off in the 1990s.
In return, co-founder Andy Anthony reached an agreement with London Underground Transport for London (LUTFL) in which a cup was donated with some money for pitch hire.
In 1995, the first cup competition ended with a final between Piccadilly Line and District Line, sparking a rivalry which continues to this day.
Following the cup’s success, funding was found for a full league and there are now 12 teams that play across two divisions.
Originally rules stipulated that you could only play for a team if you worked on that line, however these were relaxed in a move to encourage more balanced matches and transfers between sides.
Cem Toygar is heavily involved with the league having originally played for Piccadilly FC before becoming manager in 2015. He is also league secretary.
This involves sorting out the fixtures for the league, making sure that funding is coming in from TFL head of finance, and block booking the pitches for matches.
He does all this while also working in service control for the train network.
He said: “I love growing it, evolving it, making it better for everyone, more inclusive and open.
“What I love about it is that there are train enthusiasts and grassroots fans alike that come and watch it. People that love the underground or TFL, and they love non league football it’s great.”
Cem took the lead when it came to social media creating a Piccadilly FC Twitter account which now has 5,500 followers and around 1,500 followers on Instagram.
Other teams followed suit and an official Transport For London & LU Football League page now exists with 1,600 followers.
Cem said: “Because of the social media exposure, we’ve had more and more groundhoppers interested in coming to see the games so our fanbase has grown as well.”
Their shirts have caused a stir online too with both Piccadilly FC and Jubilee FC creating bespoke jerseys, endorsed and authorised by Transport for London, with a Piccadilly Moquette shirt now archived in the London Transport Museum.
They’ve had collaborations with a small team down the road as well.
Cem added: “Our second shirt we launched in collaboration with Arsenal football club. One of their football shirts had the Barman Moquette, we had a similar one and we had to delay our launch because Arsenal were launching theirs.
“What Arsenal did was they asked our players to go to the Emirates and do a photoshoot and help launch the kits.”
But who are the Sakas, the Martinellis and the Rob Holdings when it comes to matches at Market Road?
Ross Warnham has had stints playing in semi-professional football for the likes of Beckhenham Town FC but has terrorised defences in the TFL leagues for the last five years.
He said: “Although it’s work football, you still want to win but also have fun. Pic [Piccadilly FC] allows you to do all of that.
“It’s good meeting loads of players from different parts of TFL as well. A lot of people are CSAs [Customer Service Assistants], around the network you might see familiar faces that you’ve played against or played with so it’s good.”
Another long serving player on the Piccadilly roster is Northern Line tube driver Robbie Williams.
He’s played all over for Piccadilly, including in goal and up front but has now settled into marshalling the defence at centre back.
He plays football on Saturdays and Sundays but always finds time to join his workmates in the week too.
He said: “It gets a group of lads together from work, it takes us away from work.
“It’s a bit of a social thing as well, the fact that we just enjoy playing football.”
The league also organises a 5-a-side Women’s League including three sides, British Transport Police, Real Metropolitana and Piccadilly Line.
The hope is that this can expand and Northern Line, Jubilee Line and Central Line teams will enter soon too.
Cem said: “The biggest positive is the women’s establishment and evolution, that’s growing, that’s the place to watch.
“We’re now evolving the women’s game to promote equality in the workplace.”
Last year saw the inaugural Women’s Super League at West Ham Recreational Ground.
This was a one day cup which included the three teams mentioned, as well as the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade.
The same tournament is planned to take place this year on May 7th, growing to include a National Army side too.
Nat Cole works in the Operational Support Unit in British Transport Police (BTP) and was keen to stress the importance of the women’s matches.
She said: “We’ve had a really good time, we’ve got some women out that haven’t played for years, some who have recovered from injury, some who haven’t played since they were young.”
She added: “In such a high pressured role that we do at work, it’s nice to have that out time.
“You’re representing what you work for, it’s good to meet other players that work across the force.
“We have a mixture of officers that are uniformed and officers that are police staff so it’s good to get these all walks of life coming together and playing, it’s just been really nice to be honest.”
The BTP claimed victory over Piccadilly and Real Metropolitana in the recent WSL Mini League, setup as a warm up for the WSL tournament on May 7th.
In terms of the men’s matches, after four title wins in five years, it looks like Piccadilly FC’s crown has well and truly slipped with the side teetering on the brink of relegation to Division 2.
Regarding his side’s fortunes, Cem said: “This year we’re languishing fourth because everyone has strengthened their teams.
“Piccadilly have been the team to beat recently but now I’d say Northern Line, Overground and Victoria Line are in a three horse race to win Division 1 this season.”
As always with the London Underground, it is important to mind the gap.
Photo credits Cem Toygar and Arif Ahmed
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