FA

In 2014 the Football Association announced ambitious plans to build more than 15 so-called football hubs around the country. The FA wanted to transform the way football is played across England. What the FA really meant was that they had been shamed into doing something about rotting football facilities and the shocking state of municipal pitches around England. A total...

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...

In an attempt to increase the popularity of non-league football in England, former BBC sports journalist James Doe set up Non-League Day to give fans of professional teams the incentive to watch amateur football in their local community. The sixth annual Non-League Day took took place in England earlier this month, and it was hailed as a huge success. As...

The FA’s National Game Strategy is an initiative designed to increase participation in grassroots football throughout England. The recent relaunch of one of the FA’s flagship schemes might have made the headlines, but does it really cut the mustard? Football at the local level in England has been starved of cash for decades. Pitches have been either sold off or...

As part of the FA’s National Game Strategy, the FA has announced that £260 million will be invested in grassroots football over the course of the next four years - a new record. While this might sound like an avalanche of cash, there are some within the game that believe - after so many years of under-investment - this latest...

Amid growing calls for increased investment in grassroots football, the FA has announced that Sheffield is to get the country’s first so-called football ‘hubs’. These facilities are aimed at increasing participation in the grassroots game, as well as improving standards amongst English youngsters. However, many critics still believe that the FA (along with the Premier League) is not doing enough...

Faced with continuing criticism with regard to player development and the standards set by the England national team, the Football Association has been busy introducing a series of standards-based initiatives. One of the most high-profile schemes to be announced under Greg Dyke’s leadership is the 2020 vision – a six-year plan to boost grassroots football across England. What is the...

Following a calamitous 2014 World Cup campaign, the FA and those at the very top of English football realised that something needed to change. In all fairness to the game’s authorities, there have already been some major changes to the grassroots game and the developmental pathway in England, but the FA’s new DNA programme has been launched with the clear...

At a time when obesity levels in the UK are rising, and when the effects of sedentary lifestyles are costing the NHS millions of pounds every year, the FA is driving forward with its plan to get adults playing football in their local communities. Imagine you’ve just finished work, and you’re doing what you do every night of the week...