Since the FA announced the complete overhaul of the English youth football system in 2011, all but the biggest clubs in England have been highly critical of the move. The Elite Player Performance Plan is designed to incentivise clubs to improve their youth training facilities though a graded process of funding. Put simply, the better a club’s facilities, the more...

Most English football fans are in agreement; they want a successful and competitive England team to cheer on at the major international tournaments. They want to support a team that has a genuine chance of glory. However, a lack of first-team opportunities at the highest level, coupled with falling technical skills, has left the England team facing a future as...

Amidst decaying facilities, deteriorating pitches and increasing pitch fees, grassroots football throughout the UK has been suffering a steady decline for many years now. One of the few reasons for optimism in recent years has been the £30 million funding from Sport England, but that has just been cut by £1.6 million – yet another kick in the teeth for...

Following some high-profile demonstrations, social media campaigns and a nationwide boycott of youth football, it seems that a Sky Sports News survey has provided further proof that the grassroots game in England is at its lowest ebb in a generation. More than 2,500 people involved in local football were included in the survey, and they were asked their views on...

Football coaches are always looking at ways of getting the best out of their players during training sessions. It is not enough to just turn up at a football training session and make something up on the night or to give the players a ball and tell them to get on and play a game. Here are some points on...

The bridge recently lowered into place - which connects Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium with its new £200 million academy complex - it's bridging a big gap in more ways than one. This impressive structure literally links the multi-million-pound superstars of City’s first team with the junior and youth teams. And it proves that even the richest football club in the...

The Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Programme has incentivised clubs to invest time, man-hours and money into their academies and youth systems. While this initiative was designed to improve the standard of young English players – and by extension future England national teams - it has been criticised by leading figures in the game as being biased towards the big...

We take a look at the finances of Premier League football clubs compared to those of a typical Sunday League side. Millions of Manchester United fans from around the world breathed a collective sigh of relief when it was announced recently that Wayne Rooney had committed his long-term future to the club. However, his reported £300,000-per-week salary means he will...

Samba Sports have set the standard for portable football goals we find out what is story behind their success. When did you start making portable football goals? Samba Sports began manufacturing goals in 1995 and have now been making goals for over 24 years. During this time, Samba has expanded to become the largest supplier of portable goals both in...

Mitre has launched a new training ball for 2014. The Mitre Primero Football replaces the popular Mitre Calcio which has been their most popular training ball used by grass roots football clubs, schools and colleges for years. The Calcio was always a popular ball and was very hard wearing but had the drawback that in became hard during the colder...