The FA will stamp down poor behaviour in grassroots football to protect the game’s invaluable network of volunteers, Director of Football Development James Kendall has pledged.
Following its most comprehensive consultation with grassroots football to date, the FA has set in motion a landmark four-year strategy, titled ‘A Thriving Grassroots Game’, that will address some of the most pressing challenges concerning the English game.
Among the key priority areas outlined in the strategy, tackling unacceptable behaviours is highlighted as crucial for the FA – whether that be on the pitch, the touchline or the boardroom.
This policy looks to further support the current crop of volunteers that help keep the lights on at community clubs, while also creating a safer environment to encourage even more to get involved in the grassroots game, unearthing new refereeing and coaching talent.
“They’re the lifeblood of the game,” Kendall said. “Without volunteers, we don’t have football, so we absolutely need to focus on that.
“We know that our volunteers want to feel more valued and more connected, and that’s really the focus of the strategy – both to recruit more volunteers into the game to provide for the more players that we know that we’re going to have, but also to make sure that they feel rewarded and supported and they can develop skills as part of volunteering in football.
“When we talk about volunteers, we mean coaches, we mean referees, we mean administrators within clubs. Volunteers come in all shapes and forms and we need to support them as much as we possibly can.”
The new strategy sets out a clear direction of travel for grassroots football in England, continuing to push the game into an ever-inclusive era.
Projections anticipate a further 220,000 new players will be involved in grassroots football across 15,000 new teams by 2028 as the FA looks to deliver equal opportunities for everyone to play, increasing the number of female players by 50% and disability football players by 40%.
The FA is also keen to invest in new and existing facilities at clubs, hoping to hit the target of 12,000 quality grass pitches in this four-year period.
All is done to further fuel the English grassroots game, the positive impacts of which will be seen far beyond the pitch, acting as greatly beneficial to local communities from both a social and economic standpoint.
“It’s about community and part of what we’re also announcing today is our social impact study, which demonstrates that the social impact of grassroots football puts nearly £16bn into the economy, which is a social impact, economic impact and health impact as well,” Kendall added.
“That just demonstrates how important grassroots football is to society and not just to the game itself.
“We have a thousand thriving grassroots clubs, community clubs is what we call them. Those are clubs that are offering female, disability and male opportunities to play, but also are sustainable financially.
“They are really at the heartbeat of their communities, both in terms of football provision, but also more widely. We’re seeing that happening up and down the country and we want to see more of that over the next four years.”
The Football Association has launched a new landmark strategy to grow and develop grassroots football in England, titled ‘A Thriving Grassroots Game’. The four-year grassroots strategy is aimed at supporting sustainable growth over the next four years, with projections anticipating a further 220,000 new players across 15,000 new teams by 2028. For more information go to www.TheFA.com
