The Tommy Tankers: From the Beginning

THE TOMMY TANKERS: From the Beginning

Is this the end for Southend's favourite League team?

The Tommy Tankers were formed in May 2021, beginning their journey as a group of mates in the lowest 5-a-side league at Goals Southend, but soon started climbing the divisions after winning their first game 55-11. With three active teams (The Tommy Tankers, The Tommy Tankers Remes & The Tankers 11's), they soon became a powerhouse of Goals Southend, also winning their 11-a-side Summer League.

The main Tommy Tankers team has played several seasons, taking the top spot for the majority of them, boasting a deserving 7 league champion trophies. Over the years, The Tommy Tankers have had professional players, international players, and semi-pros feature on their sides, whilst also setting the record for the highest-attended small-sided game in Goals Southend's history. We asked Ben Roberts, the team's co-founder and representative, "What's Your Football?"  

“We strive to be the best at everything we do, which includes our social media content however what happens on the pitch is the main priority. We try and play the best football there is to both be entertaining to the fans online and ruthless on the pitch.” 

The Tommy Tankers began building a dedicated fanbase primarily on Instagram. In January 2022, following the team's growing popularity, The Grass Roots Post magazine wrote an article on their rise to success, with hard copies of the paper being distributed in 200+ AstroTurf venues, including every Goals club in the UK. Further doors opened for the much-loved Southend team as they partnered with sponsor RAMtalk to launch their own podcast, 'TANKERStalk'. In late July 2022, The Tommy Tankers signed onto the Goals Pro roster, Goals' very own influencer programme, now contributing to the football scene for Goals on a national basis, no longer just in Southend. 

It seemed as though the sky was the limit for The Tankers as they juggled their personal responsibilities, school, winning their fixtures, and still continued growing the team's popularity. They went from strength to strength with an elevated social media presence on TikTok collecting 30K+ followers and videos reaching up to 5M views. They even signed a sponsorship with an upcoming brand, Divided London to release a Limited Edition Tropical Kit back in Summer 2022. 

But, all good things come to an end. The Tommy Tankers released a club statement earlier this week to let their fans know they've withdrawn from Goals Southend's league with no intentions of entering a new one due to reported squad issues. However, we're confident that The Tommy Tankers will one day be able to live out their dreams of becoming as mainstream as the SE DONS. This isn't 'goodbye', it's 'see you later'.