Derby County Football Club and Community Trust are delighted to announce the return of Green Football Weekend, the world’s biggest football campaign to tackle climate change. We will be joining more than 80 professional UK clubs in the battle to protect our beautiful game.  

Taking place from 2nd-5th February, the initiative aims to shine a light on steps we can all take to reduce our carbon footprint and make greener decisions. This year, the focus is on food, and the changes we can make to our diets to help the planet. 

Scoring opened for the Green Football Cup last week, where it’s not the players but fans that will decide the winner by taking climate-friendly action. This year, Derby County is encouraging their legendary fans to download the free online Green Football Weekend Veggie Cookbook and try a veggie option to score a green goal for them in the Green Football Cup.  

Club fans can choose from over 70 delicious veggie dishes provided by players, famous fans, club nutritionists and chefs. You’ll also get the chance to win incredible prizes, including behind-the scenes experiences at Sky Sports and tickets for The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour. Fans can also share their delicious veggie dishes on social media, tagging #TransferToVeg. 

Eating more veg is not only good for health and performance on the pitch, but can also save you money. It’s also critical to protecting our world - if the UK’s football fans had one veggie meal a day, we could save the equivalent to removing 5.5M cars from the road each year. 

Derby County Community Trust have expanded their green offer over the past few years to tackle the ongoing effects of climate change and to allow participants access to outdoor space. They operate two allotments, known as ‘The Dug Outs’ at two locations in Derby. 

The plots aim to support participants to make informed decisions about food, where it comes from and how they can grow their own plants, even in small spaces. The team work with a range of age groups at the outdoor spaces, creating recipes and ideas from the available produce. 

As part of Green Football Weekend, the Community Trust will also be sharing their own recipes which have been created to use veggie produce available at a low cost – ensuring it’s accessible for all. 

Luke Wilkinson, Health Team Leader at the Community Trust, said, “With 150,000 games across the country already cancelled due to flooding, it’s exciting to come together to protect the game we love. Football has incredible power to inspire change and improve lives, and that’s why Derby County is so proud to be taking part in Green Football Weekend.” 

Fans will also be able to get Derby County up the Green Football Cup table with other goal-scoring activities, including saving cash by choosing discounted ‘yellow-sticker’ food at the supermarket, having fun with the Green Football Weekend AI-recipe generator to decide your next veggie meal, switching to a green energy provider; walking, biking or taking public transport rather than driving; and recruiting friends and family to get involved.  

The future of football is at risk due to the effects of climate change, with 150,000 games already cancelled per year due to pitch flooding. By 2050, a quarter of UK football grounds will be flooded, with one in four teams expecting partial or total stadium flooding each year. 

To take part in the Green Football Cup, head to https://pledgeball.org and for everything else about Green Football Weekend, please see https://www.greenfootballweekend.com.  

To find out about Derby County Community Trust’s projects, including their allotment sites, please head to www.derbycountycommunitytrust.com.