How Martin County soccer's Andy Gribben landed an opportunity with England's Walton & Hersham FC

Soccer isn’t America’s top sport, but prodigies do exist and are generally tied to the country’s largest cities.

Miami. Dallas. New York City. Palm City.

O.K., so the final place on that list doesn’t quite fit the others. But for Andy Gribben, he’ll soon have an opportunity to grow his game where the beautiful game was born. The Martin County High School sophomore midfielder recently accepted an offer to play in England for Walton & Hersham F.C..

Founded in 1945, the Swans are currently a part of the Premier South division of the Southern League, which is on the seventh level of the English football league system. Gribben will join the club in 2026 upon turning 18 years old.

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“Obviously, I'm really excited. I'm looking forward to it,” Gribben said. “But I also have to make sure that I'm ready for when I go in two years and there's definitely still more to work for. I just want to constantly keep improving, learn more about the game and just constantly surround myself with it. So then in the future, I’m 100 percent ready to go when I go over.”

Gribben scored a goal and recorded four assists this past season for Martin County.

Outside of his time for the Tigers, the sophomore plays for W&H America, a youth soccer club in Palm City.

Formerly known as Martin United, W&H America was formed with the help of Christopher Corey, a co-owner, board member and team president of Walton & Hersham. Corey has been affiliated with the English club since 2020 and purchased a 25-acre facility equipped with four fields in 2022 in Palm City where the youth club trains.

“We were able to bring him into (the facility) and share the news with him. He accepted the opportunity and I couldn't be happier for him because from a player's standpoint, the fact that Andy now knows where his next step is, it takes a lot of the weight off,” Corey said.

Gribben first was put on Walton and Hersham’s radar last summer when he was one of three players selected to travel to England and play for a week with the club’s under-18 squad. Following the summer session, W&H management continued to check in with W&H America to monitor Gribben’s progress before extending an official offer this winter.

“Andy has a fluid playing style that is pleasing on the eye, and we are confident that he can grow into a magnificent player for us here in England if he continues to develop at his current rate,” Swans head coach Billy Rowley said in a press release. “We are a possession-based team, and it is clear that he receives and distributes the ball well with both feet.”

'It’s something I greatly enjoy'

Andy Gribben says his earliest soccer memories come from playing at the YMCA at the age of five. However, Ed Gribben states his son’s time on the pitch started sooner than that.

When he was two years old, Andy, the youngest of three kids, was eager to join his two older sisters on the field.

With all of his kids involved, the patriarch of the Gribben family decided to coach the sport, even though he wasn’t a big fan.

“I was a basketball player and thought soccer was a stupid sport because you couldn’t play with your hands,” he said with a smile. “I quickly realized it was a great youth sport to teach, much easier than basketball. In basketball, balls fly all over the gym, it's loud, kids can't control the balls and there's so many skills involved. In soccer, you can put the ball on the ground and kids can start doing it right away. So we just kept going with it, that's what they liked and we kept supporting it.”

What has since grown is a deep love for the sport that the younger Gribben has played every year with the exception of a brief hiatus during his seventh-grade year.

“The constant involvement in the game, the ball is always moving,” Andy Gribben said on what attracted him to soccer. “People are always everywhere. It caught my attention and it’s something I greatly enjoy.”

He stepped away from soccer during his hiatus to try other sports ⎼ basketball, pickleball, stand-up paddleboard racing ⎼ before eventually being convinced by his friends to return to soccer. And in his first game back, the midfielder notched a hat trick.

'Welcoming and accepting and they're willing to help'

In two years, Andy Gribben will be just like several other graduating seniors: packing up and heading off for the next chapter of their life. The only difference is that his fellow classmates likely won’t be traveling 3,000 miles away.

It undoubtedly will be an emotional moment for the Gribben family when that moment arrives in 2026, but more importantly, it’s a moment they believe their son will be ready for.

“I’m probably preparing for it a lot easier than mom is. But I think through raising our three kids, we've always focused on helping them make good decisions, because we knew that they wouldn't always be directly under our care,” Ed Gribben said. “We've raised some independent kids, and it's gonna be a tough adjustment for him, but he's going to be equipped to do it. He's going to be able to handle himself and he's still gonna have our support. We're gonna spend a lot of time over there, too.”

Part of what gives Andy Gribben confidence in adjusting is the week previously spent in England. He embraces the challenge and environment, just as much as the club embraced him.

“It was an all-around good experience just being there and knowing that they're welcoming and accepting and they're willing to help, which is why it made the decision so much easier,” he said.

Example of success

According to Michael Calvin’s No Hunger in Paradise,  .012 percent of the 1.5 million boys playing organized youth soccer in England reach the Premier League, the top league in England. That number only shrinks with American-born players, as only eight Americans entered this season on a Premier League roster.

Essentially, imagine an English-born player fighting for a roster spot in the NFL.

But regardless of the odds, the chance to play the world’s most popular sport professionally overseas at any level is coveted territory, one that is dreamt by hundreds of millions. For the current and future players involved in W&H America, that dream is very much a reality.

“So I hate to put all the pressure on him. But I think a lot of that has to do with Andy,” Corey said. “As adults, we do our best, but I think kids are inspired by other kids more. Andy, one of the big accolades I'll give to him on this was accepting this responsibility of being a role model for all the kids. …  I think it's going to be a great journey for Andy through that, because until one person accomplishes it, I know the kids here felt like it was impossible.”

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at (772) 985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Martin County soccer's Andy Gribben commits to play pro soccer in England