When Mark Joy took charge of his first competitive match as a Level 5 football referee, it saw him realise a long-held ambition.

Mr Joy, from Strood, had wanted to referee a competitive game at step six in the English non-league football pyramid for more than 20 years and was delighted when he was finally able to do so last year. On the field, Kent Football United beat Meridian VP 2-1 on September 26.

Dan Church and Mark Joy from Man v Fat

The 47-year-old says he was only able to gain the necessary qualifications thanks to the support of "Man v Fat", which is already running leagues in Dartford and Strood, and will be heading to Maidstone next month.

"I’m now a level 5 referee which allows me to referee up to Southern Counties East Football League Division 1," said Mr Joy.

"I can run the line in that league and also in the Southern Counties East Premier Division.

"In the 2020/21 season, although it was curtailed, I did my first senior football match at Kent Football United in September.

"I had done friendlies but I had never refereed a competitive match at that level until last year.

"To me, that was huge. It was something I have wanted since my mid-twenties.

"It took Man v Fat to get me there."

Established only five years ago, more than 90 Man v Fat leagues are now in operation across the UK.

"The founder, Andrew Shanahan, was basically looking to lose weight but all he could find were programmes that were predominantly aimed at women," said Dan Church, South-east regional manager of Man v Fat.

“So that was really how Man v Fat was formed. He looked into making a provision for men, linked up with Sport England and did a trial in Birmingham.

“From there, we have now grown to more than 90 leagues across the UK and we have got several leagues now opening up in Kent.”

They operate a six-a-side league which is exclusively for men whose BMI is more than 27.5.

Mr Joy, who says he has really benefited from being involved with Man v Fat but concedes he did put some weight back on during lockdown, explained his story.

The man who works in pest control, a former councillor for Strood South, said: "Up until before lockdown, it had done wonders for me.

"I started when the Strood league launched in 2018. I was topping the scales at 165 kilos which is just over 26 stone. I had been reasonably active because I'm a football referee.

"I now have the confidence that I can lose that weight again...."

"I got quite seriously injured in my mid-twenties, while going for the class one refereeing certification which is now the level 5. I had wanted to get it for ages. I knew that, the only way I could do it, was to lose some weight. I started on that in 2018.

"The season lasts 14 weeks and, in my first season with Man v Fat, I lost 27.5 kilos which is just under four stone. That gave me the confidence to apply for a promotion again.

"Over the next two or three seasons, I managed to lose another 20 kilos and, in the process, I also got my level 5 in refereeing. So it helped me to get there.

"I was doing okay until lockdown last year.

"I’m a comfort eater. I put some of the weight back on but I now have the confidence I can lose that weight again."

The new league at YMCA Maidstone is set to begin on June 11 and will run every Friday from 7.45pm to 9.45pm.

“Each team can have up to 10 players,” said Mr Church.

“At the moment, we have enough to launch a four-team league but we are looking to expand that to a six-team league if we can between now and when we launch.”

Mr Church says there had already been interest from those in the County Town who were keen to join a Man v Fat league.

He said: "We looked at the population of the area, what their obesity statistics are like in the area and we realised there was a want and need for a league in Maidstone.”

As well as getting out on the football field, Mr Church believes there are other benefits to joining, with players earning points for losing weight - as well as winning games.

Mr Church said: “Players weigh in on a weekly basis. They will discuss what they have eaten during the week.

“They will then get weighed in and play their 28-minute game of football.

“The unique thing about our league is that you get points for, obviously, winning on the pitch, but you also get points for losing weight on a weekly basis.

“If you lose either 5%, 10% or 15% of your body weight, then you’ll get points for your team.

“At the end of the night, the weight loss points get combined with the pitch score to give you an overall score for the evening.”

Mr Joy who now coaches in the leagues in Strood and Dartford feels the team ethos is important.

"As an individual, if I don’t lose weight, the only person it affects is me," he said.

"When you are part of Man v Fat football, the philosophy is that you are part of a team. You work together.

"If you don’t lose weight, it could affect your team. I found, not just me but a lot of people involved with it, they didn’t want to let their team-mates down.

"So they made that little bit extra effort, just to move off an extra few calories."

He admits he was nervous about getting weighed when he first started but says the Dartford league, which has only been operating a matter of weeks, has seen big results with the 54 players involved in week one losing nearly 63 kilograms between them.

"I didn't like going on the scales. I knew I was very overweight," Mr Joy said as he recalled when he got involved.

"But you realise, when you go on those scales, there is no turning back. It is a big thing.

"One of the things we do is everybody that comes to Man v Fat goes on the scales - whether you are a coach or a referee, we get you on the scales.

"We want everyone who is involved in it to experience what it’s like to get on the scales and see that weight."

Mr Church added: “So 95% of the guys that join the programme actually lose weight and report other benefits as well in terms of the mental health support that they get with us too.

“A lot of people join for the social element of it as well and make new friends, so it is an all-round package.

“We say we are more than football and we really are.”

Go to www.manvfatfootball.org/maidstone for details about the Maidstone league, www.manvfatfootball.org/strood for the Strood league and www.manvfatfootball.org/dartford for the Dartford league.

Subscription costs £27.50 per month but those from eligible postcodes may have their first season funded by Medway Council.

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