Football, by definition, is polarizing. For example, my favourite team might not be yours, or my favourite player might not be yours. Even down to in-play action; where I saw an offside, you saw an onside etc.
And part of football is chatting and debating all these polarising talking points - we love it. When we hear words like review, consult and change, this can also be polarizing and I get that.
On the one hand, some may think, please don’t change the game it's perfect, leave it alone. On the other side of this, we have a view which can be open-minded to positive change.
I understand both sides of this and get that it’s a passionate subject, but what I will say is that, if we never reviewed things, the game would look a lot different right now.
Let’s take for example the women's game. Women were actually banned from playing in the 20s and this ban lasted almost 50 years. Crazy, right? It wasn’t until the 70s that this ban was lifted. This decision was reviewed, and the game became greater because of this review.
Because of that change to the game we now have a fantastic explosion of women and girls both playing and coaching and our Lionesses sit as European champions (maybe, within a few short weeks, even world champions).
Closer to modern times, youth football was reviewed and, in 2012, team sizes, goal sizes and pitch sizes were reduced. At the time this caused huge controversy with “that’s not proper football” a common phrase I heard at the time.
The feedback for those changes in 2012 has been overwhelmingly positive and we have a game that is better for the players.
Add into the mix the introduction of walking football more recently and we can see how over time the game evolves to suit the needs of the players.
None of this is possible without periodic reviews of where we are now, what the current issues are and a collective look at possible solutions.
With the creation of the Grassroots 2024-2028 strategy on the horizon, and with almost a decade since the last large-scale, face-to-face national consultation, ‘A Conversation with The Game’ aims to connect with the grassroots game in a way that inspires, listens and informs.
So what might we see be discussed or put forward this time? Well, luckily me and my buddy Charlotte Richardson, a sports broadcaster but more importantly a passionate grassroots volunteer, are hosting the events so we want to keep you up to date with what's being said and where.
Already we’ve heard some great ideas from the south of England.
Smaller-sided teams was an idea put forward by the grassroots community at a few of the roadshows to create more touches and more involvement at younger ages.
On the subject of behaviour in the game, speed awareness style courses for first offences were suggested to build in an educational element instead of just punishment.
Across the four events held so far in the South of England, when asked if we could give the FA a magic wand to fix one part of grassroots football, overwhelmingly facilities have come up time and again.
So what is being asked and discussed you may ask? In simple terms, everything!
The first thing is behaviour in grassroots football and we ask a simple question with no right or wrong answer. What should be done about undesirable and/or unacceptable behaviour in grassroots football?
As you can imagine this is a huge topic and has caused lots of debate; is a carrot or stick approach better, education or punishment or is there something else that hasn’t been thought of yet or tried that could work?
Another area we look at is how recruitment and retention of volunteers has become increasingly more difficult and we ask what should be done about it. This is another area of the game that is uniquely difficult but such a great area to discuss.
What we’re learning on the roadshows is that the real experts are the ones day in, day out operating in grassroots football and some of the ideas coming through are brilliant.
Should 3v3 or 4v4 be introduced? Should we adopt other sports approaches and only allow the captain to speak to the referee? Should Grassroots Volunteers have a reward and recognition scheme?
All of this and more has been discussed at the roadshows - you can find the rest of the dates below.
In the meantime if you want to join the conversation at one of our in-person events or want to fill in the digital survey you can HERE.
What are the in-person events?
Led by The FA, and supported by County FA representation, the Football Foundation, Sport England and the Premier League, we are hosting 16 in-person events, each with around 100 attendees for an evening of respectful conversation.
Attended by FA staff and hosted to a professional standard, we want attendees to leave feeling inspired and informed. Topics at the event include behaviours in the game, how we support our volunteers and workforce, youth football, adult football, inclusive football, clubs of the future and future football experience.
Where and when are they?
Date Location Venue
26-Jun Burnley Burnley FC
27-Jun Manchester Stockport County FC
28-Jun Bradford Bradford City FC
03-Jul Hull MKM Stadium
04-Jul Boston Boston United FC
05-Jul Norwich Norwich City FC
10-Jul Exeter Exeter Racecourse
11-Jul Bath Trowbridge Civic Centre
12-Jul Worcester Worcester Racecourse
13-Jul Burton Burton Albion FC
What is the digital survey?
An online survey will be open until 14th July offering anyone, regardless of position and location, to contribute in a meaningful way. A modular questionnaire will offer a robust quantitative dataset on which to build our 2024-2028 strategy. We’re encouraging responses from across the affiliated and non-affiliated game. Parents or players that have only been involved in grassroots football for a year are just as welcome to complete it as someone with 30 years of experience.
