Football clubs, leagues and associations throughout the UK have been struggling to cope with major problems coming from almost every conceivable direction in recent years. As well as chronic underinvestment, declining participation levels and decaying facilities, a growing number of clubs are now struggling to simply fulfil their fixture list. Several postponements in recent months have been highlighted in newspapers...

The thought of plunging your body into ice cold water after playing football may sound like an unpleasant experience, but many professional athletes frequently immerse themselves in an ice bath after training or competing. Does an ice bath speed up recovery after exercise? Research has shown that strenuous exercise creates minute areas of trauma to the muscles.  This creates activity...

The Premier League has come under fire in recent years for its apparent lack of activity at grassroots level in England. But has this criticism been fair? Record revenues from broadcasting deals and sponsorships have made the Premier League the richest domestic football competition in the world - by quite some distance. While the vast majority of this money goes...

Premier League footballers aren’t always held in the highest esteem amongst those outside the football bubble. Huge weekly wages, bad behaviour on and off the pitch and a lack of role models has left a significant section of the population cynical with regard to the game’s highest earners. But is this fair? The Premier League has a range of community...

The FA has come in for some stinging criticism during the last decade for its inability to reverse the trend of falling participation levels in local communities. Yet judging by their recent announcement regarding ‘record levels of investment’, the decision makers at the FA would have you believe that everything is right on track. The FA Group released its financial...

Climate change is having a huge impact on weather patterns in Britain, and some regions are suffering more than others. While the plight of homeowners is quite rightly reported as a priority in the press, the plight of small football clubs is often overlooked. In December, Storm Desmond wreaked havoc in the north of England. Widespread flooding ruined council pitches...

Following intense pressure to improve participation levels in football throughout England, the FA has undertaken its largest ever survey into the grassroots game. One of the main causes of plummeting participation levels in England is the state of local pitches, club houses and training facilities. And the results of this huge survey have demonstrated just how passionately people feel about...

Grassroots football in the UK is on its knees. Community pitches continue to deteriorate, local clubs continue to fold at an alarming rate and the number of people playing the game at local level continues to dwindle at an alarming rate. So, why has Chancellor George Osborne just injected around £3 million into Chinese grassroots football? Mr Osborne travelled to...

As the Premier League continues to break revenue records, and the richest in the game continue to get richer, the minnows of English football continue to flirt with economic ruin. More than £5 billion will be pumped into the elite game over the next three years - and that’s just from TV revenues. Meanwhile, local clubs and football in the...

As part of the FA’s drive to improve footballing standards amongst English youngsters - and increase grassroots participation levels - a series of ‘City Hubs’ were put into development, and the first of them are now opening. Around 30 hubs are planned for towns and cities across the country, which are all aimed at people who want to play football...