⚽️🥳 Bookings now open for September - Very limited spaces! 🙂⚽️
Local Football Classes Kids Love - Right Here In Croydon & Sutton 🙂
I started Skillz in 2012 with the aim of making kids football all about kids! My own experience of playing was hugely memorable in the end, but at the beginning I found it un-fun, de-motivating, and difficult to express myself - mainly due to the type of coaches I had "coaching" me.
Fast forward to today, and I am super proud to have made an impact in our local community through Skillz. The winning formula? Combining care, love and energy with great coaching that gives all children the environment to develop. Making it all about the CHILDREN we teach!
The team and I can't wait to see you. I really hope you enjoy being part of our Skillz family 🙂
Start Your Child's Football Journey!
Looking for exciting, high-quality children’s football classes in Croydon and Sutton? At Skillz, we combine top-tier coaching with great fun, helping kids aged 2 to 12 fall in love with football while building confidence, developing their football ability, and life Skillz that will help them along their journey.
✅ 2 free taster sessions available – Get to know us and experience our classes
✅ Monthly commitment to your class - no big upfront term fees
✅ Led by UEFA and FA qualified coaches
✅ Age appropriate programmes for 2 to 12 years old
✅ The perfect start in football for your Superstar - pressure free development environment
✅ 35 classes across 8 venues in Croydon & Sutton – find one near you!
✅ In house tournaments each term + enjoy 10% off birthday parties, Superstar Campz and more when you become a member
JOY | DEVELOPMENT | FREEDOM | ENERGY
Our Football Classes For Ages 2-12
Superstar Football Classes
⚽️ Fulfil your Superstar's new passion! Our high-energy, themed classes build real football skills, confidence, and creativity
The Skillz Family...💙⚽️
Meet the management team behind our programme 👇
Ashley Thomas
Managing Director
Ashley’s love for working with children encouraged him to create Skillz back in 2012.
His expertise and enthusiasm have taken him to work within professional football clubs including Fulham FC’s academy and Chelsea FC’s foundation department. In 2011 Ashley became one of the youngest coaches in the country to complete his UEFA B License in football coaching aged 20.
Today he is heavily involved in the planning and overseeing of the programme whereby he has overseen the growth of our programme from 10 children to 550 members per week, plus created our feeder club SZ United FC (160+ players), and our sister brand Superstar Campz (holiday camps).
He is currently the u9 coach at Fulham FC's academy working and developing on the next generation of talent for the club.
He thinks he is the best footballer out of our whole team…the jury is still out on that one!
Andreea Ireland
Customer Relations Manager
Andreea has been with us since August 2023, bringing a new found consistency to a super important role for us.
We do not just let anyone join our team! Andreea was chosen because she knows Skillz inside out as her children have been part of our weekly classes years!
Since she has joined, she has helped get more children playing with Skillz and been available to speak to existing and new parents about everything to do with our class more often than when our role was shared between two other Customer Relations Managers.
She loves her role and loves speaking with you to help you along your Skillz journey 🙂
Sonny Thorpe
Academy Manager
Sonny and Ashley went to school together and have known and trusted each other since the age of 12! That's over 22 years ago 😬
They played football together in their teens, and started coaching at a small soccer school together at the age of 17.
Sonny joined Skillz at the start of 2024 to ensure the quality of our programme is where it should be. His day to day duties include liaising and forming relationships with our Super Parents, being the go to person for our coaches, and also coaching at our sessions.
The kids call him Big Boss as he is 6ft 4! His loveable and funny approach is a huge hit with our Superstars ✅
Michael Ojo
Session Manager
Shoutout to Coach Michael! One of our coaches who does his role alongside with a full time job in construction! A real gem of a coach who is fully committed to his coaching!
Michael joined us in 2022 as a lead coach, and has since become our Session Manager at Monks Hill on Saturday mornings.
He is a level 2 coach with years of experience, bringing an energy and vibe to the sessions he loves to be a part of.
He is an Arsenal fan too which always helps when joining our team 🥳
Affiq Lathieff
Lead Coach
Affiq joined us at the start of 2024 and has become a Superstar favourite, perhaps one of our favourite coaches of all time!
He leads on a number of our sessions including toddler football, after school clubs, leisure time sessions, and Saturday mornings.
He has recently been promoted to our Age Group Coordinator at our feeder club SZ United FC where he supports and oversees their football teams.
He specialises in having tonnes of fun, forming bonds with families, and coaching the children to a high standard.
A keen cricketer too - Affiq, with his family, are in charge of his very own cricket club. 🏏
Erin Colliety
Lead Coach
Erin was once a Skillz Superstar herself, having been part of our girls only programme at her school.
Now in her 20's, she has joined us as a lead coach specialising in helping our younger footballers fall in love with football. She is also our birthday party coach helping create lifelong memories for our birthday Superstars!
She has been part of our family for a long time, having worked at our holiday camps sister brand, Superstar Campz, for a number of years.
She is a huge Crystal Palace fan and pushes for our Superstars to support their local club (however we have too many Arsenal fans in our coaching team to allow this to happen 🤭).
Dean Jones
Lead Coach
Dean is another legend of the game at Skillz! He combines his coaching with his full time job outside of football..
He has been with us since 2021, bringing the biggest energy we have ever seen from a coach in a Skillz shirt!
His coaching knowledge is unbelievable and he holds the UEFA B license.
Along with his coaching at Skillz, he is also a team manager at our feeder club SZ United FC, specialising in coaching 11v11 age groups.
You have to see him in action to see what we mean about his energy 🤯
Valentino De Luca
Lead Coach
Valentino brings a huge amount of experience to our coaching team, having coached for 15 years!
His infectious personality and passion for the game benefits all of the children involved in his sessions.
He holds the UEFA B license (soon to be UEFA A), and played football at a very high level in Italy.
He has been part of the Skillz family since 2021 where he spearheaded the growth of our feeder club SZ United FC.
He is a passionate Italian football fan and constantly reminds us that England have never won anything big in modern years! We ignore him...😬
Matthew D'Souza
Development Coach
Matthew, like Coach Erin, was once a Skillz footballer at his primary school.
He volunteered his time to gain experience in football coaching and has since been more involved leading sessions.
He brings a real professionalism to his role and with a good understanding of football, he looks to develop children in a calm and passionate way.
Alongside his role with us, he the U7 manager for our feeder club SZ United FC.
He is a big Chelsea fan....he is lucky we agreed to let him work here 😬
Tayain Mattis
Development Coach
Tayain is new to our coaching team, but has been following the Skillz journey for a number of years.
He joined us in 2025 and has been learning and developing his coaching alongside his football studies outside of Skillz.
He brings a huge smile, and great energy to the sessions he is involved in.
An Arsenal fan too....are you spotting the trend yet? 👀
Jay Blake
Assistant Coach
This is a special story! Jay was one of our first ever footballers at Skillz where we met him at his nursery back in 2012 at the age of 4.
He was part of our programme for a number of years before being signed for Millwall FC's academy - a talented footballer!
He re-joined us as an assistant coach at the age of 16 and displays everything we ask of a Skillz coach - great energy, passion, enthusiasm and care for the children he helps.
He has been enjoying developing here as a coach and we cannot be prouder to have him in the team....especially as he is an Arsenal fan too 🥳
Josh O'Driscoll
Assistant Coach
Josh joined us in 2024 on Saturday mornings as a volunteer, helping our coaches to deliver a great experience to our footballers.
He has since joined our assistant team on a more permanent basis where he is a huge hit with our toddler footballers on a Saturday morning.
His smile and warm approach is loved by the children and parents, where he makes them all feel welcome and gives them the care and attention they need during the sessions.
We are working on helping him see being an Arsenal fan is the way forward....watch this space 👀
About Our Team 😀⚽️
Our super cool team is carefully selected not only for their coaching credentials, but also for their outgoing, friendly and confident personalities.
Whether you are a parent, nanny, grandad, long lost auntie or a teacher, we guarantee our coaches will be polite, professional, friendly and approachable at all times.
Award Winners...
Since 2012 we have received high praise from the local community and lots of 5* reviews! In the past we have been finalists in the Croydon Business Awards and we won Highly Commended in the National Whats On 4 Kids Awards in October 2019 + Children’s Sports Activity of the Year in the 2023 London & South East England Prestige Awards🏆 🥇
Exciting and Engaging Coaches...
As standard, all of our lead coaches are FA Level 2 qualified or above, or are working towards this right now., bursting with energy and passion to help your Superstar develop at whatever stage they are at in their development 👍
Approachable and Happy...
Our coaches are hand selected based on their love for working with children and they all are passionate about what they do! It's more than just a job to us ☺️
Highly Experienced...
Our coaching team is led by Ashley Thomas who has coached for 17 years across grassroots to professional level. He currently works for Fulham FC as their u9s Academy Coach.
⚽️ Want To Join Our Coaching Team? ⚽️
Check out our available positions below