The future is bright for Equinoccial
Brothers Juan and Daniel. Endara are determined to go all the way to the very top with their Kent County League Division One West club Equinoccial, made up of players from every Central and South American country, bar Mexico.
And it’s fair to say they are ambitious too. Not only do they want to rise from Step 8 to the summit of Non-League but they also feel one day they can reach the pinnacle of English football, yes, the Premier League. Are they serious?
“Yes, in five years we want to get at least into Step 4 and in 20 years we’ll definitely be in the National League, that’s the target, and hopefully from then on we’ll get to the Premier League,” insists club director Daniel.
“If we won the Lottery, we’d probably be pushing to be in the Premier League in the next ten years. We just believe in and know the level and quality of the players we have. With dedicating real money we know we can push forward drastically.
“There are plenty of other South American players who want to play for us but they all want to be paid, plus some kids coming through the ranks who want us to pay for their education in order to do so. At the moment, we don’t have the money to take the top, top talent. If we did, we’d buy a ground tomorrow and off we go.”
Equinoccial have just announced a groundshare at SCEFL Premier Division side Glebe for next season, insisting the agreement is open-ended, but want a place to call their own before too long.
They previously played on an outside pitch at Meridian Sports & Social Club in Charlton but know their lofty ambitions require something rather grander:
“In order to move up we had to find a ground. Juan and I are now dedicating ourselves to finding more publicity to enhance our image and in due course increase our number of sponsors,” says Daniel, whose side finished fifth last term. “The money is all organic growth, the academy is profit-making, we have a few big plans out there. We’re very close to some of the clubs back home too.”
“We’re born South American and we keep it that way we all speak Spanish, and some people don’t like to play our game! But we are open and try to be inclusive, anyone is welcome. We’re a family club and always have been. But we have had English, French, Ivorian and Senegalese players come down too. We’re not excluding anyone who wants to come and train.”
They believe they can emulate RB Leipzig, who have taken German football by storm since Red Bull’s investment in 2009.
Daniel claims he is relishing the challenges of the English pyramid system, with the club’s stated aim to reach Step 6 for 2025-26.
“Leipzig!” Daniel responds immediately when asked who provides an inspiration. “They were formed in 2009 and we are about six, seven years old really, that’s about it, competing against clubs who are 100 years old.”
“We want to be properly professionally structured and not Sunday league. We have a working committee. The coach is just the coach, literally. Now we need to get our story out there.”
Ecuadorian football is in a good place. The national team lost just once in 2023 although their last outing was a friendly defeat by Italy in March. There are high hopes for them for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, when some of their top prospects should be hitting their prime. The Endara family have seen left-back Pervis Estupinan take the top flight by storm at Brighton while Moises Caicedo was sold by the Seagulls to Chelsea for £105m last summer and Jeremy Sarmiento has just helped Ipswich Town into the Premier League.
“There was no coaching as such but we brought in Marcelo Molina when we reached this level. We were just a group of friends who have grown up so quickly before that,” Juan explains.
“We’ve been successful because we keep a close group of individuals who play for each other. These guys train once a week, play on Saturdays and meet up and go out and go to the gym during the week.”
“Sometimes players come here from Spain and don’t know how to get around English life so we help them and keep them very close. We help them find a room, look for work or get a better job.”
Daniel adds: “You treat the players the way you treat your sons. I say to my wife: ‘I don’t have three kids, I have 50!”
Equinoccial FC, remember the name. It won’t be the last you hear of them.