Major Investment in Grassroots Football

The Football Association has revealed details of a new £200 million investment programme aimed at transforming grassroots football in ‘The F.A. National Game Strategy 2008-12’ that sets out their vision for developing grassroots football across England, with the Essex County Football Association (E.C.F.A.) playing an integral role.

The strategy was formed following the largest ever public consultation in The F.A.’s history. The E.C.F.A. are responsible for areas as diverse as developing league competitions, girls and women’s football, disability football and facility development, as well as supporting and training grassroots coaches and volunteers in schools and clubs.

Despite significant investment in manpower and facilities, some areas of the grassroots game need radical change. To address these, the F.A. National Game Strategy 2008-2012 has four clear goals:

- to grow and retain participation in the game;
- to raise standards and address abusive behaviour;
- to develop better players and;
- to run the grassroots game more effectively.

Over the period of the strategy, the Essex County F.A. will be tasked with supporting The F.A. to:

- launch the RESPECT campaign to address poor behaviour from players to referees, and of pushy parents on the sidelines;
- invest £15 million a year into facilities through The Football Foundation, part of a £300m programme;
- train one million 5-11 year olds through The F.A. Tesco Skills programme;
- invest £25 million into more County F.A. Development staff;
- create over 20,000 new teams nationally and over 400 specifically in Essex and;
- retain 24,000 referees and recruit 8,000 new ones. This includes around 1,600 new referees in Essex.

Essex County F.A. Chief Executive, Phil Sammons, said: “The E.C.F.A. has sought the opinions of people involved in the game locally and have helped The F.A. devise a strategic plan which reflects what active participants want us, as the governing body, to do. It’s sometimes easy to forget that the vast majority of football played in this country is played at the grassroots, involving millions of people, week in, week out.

“The people of Essex will hopefully now see a real change in the grassroots game - from enhanced facilities to campaigns designed to improve player and spectator behaviour, and many have played their part in helping to secure the future of our national sport.”