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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

2014 was the year that England, once again, failed miserably at a World Cup Finals. But there were signs that a major corner was turned at grassroots level. The fate of England’s national team will always be inextricably linked to the health of the game at local level. Thanks to a number of initiatives, 2014 has been a year of...

Image: The Football Foundation It seems that concerns over the future of the England national team are finally being taken seriously by those in control of the game. The government, the FA and the Premier League have joined forces to announce a £102 million fund aimed at increasing participation in grassroots football throughout the country. And it is believed...