Written evidence from the Football Association [CCI0022]

Introduction

The Football Association is the not-for-profit national governing body for football in England with surplus we generate invested back into football.

We are responsible for promoting and developing every level of the game, from grassroots through to the professional game. The professional game covers England international teams across men’s, women’s, youth and disability football, as well as running the National League System and FA Competitions including the Emirates FA Cup, and Adobe Women’s FA Cup.

The grassroots game cover over 30,000 clubs and 100,000 teams, with over 15 million people playing football across England regularly, contributing some £15.9bn to society each year. The game continues to grow, but the biggest barrier to playing football in England is access to good-quality pitches.

· What assessments have been made of community cohesion in the UK in a local and national context?

We conducted a full report, titled The Social, Health and Economic Value of Grassroots Football in England, that we published in October 2024, that considers the social return on investment (SROI) of football and the effect of football on communities and social cohesion. You can read the full report here[link], but many key findings of the report show the power that football has to improve community cohesion.

Football and access to football has a very positive effect on community cohesion across the country; participation in grassroots football can help tackle issues that affect communities like crime and anti-social behaviour through building life skills, boosting the chances of staying engaged in school and employment providing safe environments for children at risk, strengthening local communities, and providing children with a positive diversionary activity.

At Rugby Borough Football Club 85% of members agree that they interact with people from different social groups helping to increase social cohesion and 74% of Rugby Borough members believe that football helps to reduce anti-social behaviour in their community. The effect of playing football is clear: 19% of adults who play regular football show higher levels of than those who do not play.

Working in football also has a positive impact on communities, as 10% of those who volunteer report higher levels of trust in local area against those who don’t and 90% of volunteers feel like they make a difference to their community through volunteering.

· What are the primary barriers and threats to community cohesion? 

In the context of football, and the positive effect that football has on community cohesion, the primary barrier to football contributing more to the improving of cohesion is the lack of access to facilities.

Lack of access to facilities remains a significant issue for local communities and is regularly cited as the number one issues in grassroots football. The shortfall in facilities stifles growth in participation, particularly amongst our rapidly growing women and girls' game and other under-represented groups.

Currently we need at least 2,000 new artificial grass pitches and 12,000 grass pitches to meet demand. We know this because every Local Authorities has its own Local Football Facility Plan (LFFP) which maps the supply and demand in their region. 

Investment in facilities is particularly important now given that England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be hosting EURO2028 in four years’ time. Having a legacy of facilities ready and in place for the start of the competition is vital in order to capture the sort of participation boost we saw when the Lionesses won EURO2022 on home soil.

We know that the Government is very supportive of investing in grassroots community facilities, with the Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, announcing that she would put “rocket boosters under grassroots sport” when announcing continued investment in grassroots facilities after EURO2024.

· How can social media impact community cohesion?

Online abuse- at all levels of the game- is something of great concern to us. We have a strong Social Media policy as part of our FA: A Game For All strategy that seeks to tackle the prevalence of online abuse that can negatively affect the ability for communities to come together and unite around sport. The strategy aims to unite English football by using campaigns, protective platform tools, public policy engagement and communication, leveraging technology and engaging key partners to identify and remove abuse from our own and others’ social media channels.

· What can be done at a local and national level to improve community cohesion?

Through research conducted for our SROI Report, we know that levels of community connection in adults that play football are 19% higher than those who don’t, and Sport England are clear that sport and physical activity can help build stronger communities by bringing people together.

We believe that football has a vital role to play in inspiring positive change; and that investing in community clubs and facilities is the most important way of enabling football to do just that. Grassroots football facilities in England are delivered by the Football Foundation, which is funded by the Government, Premier League and FA.

The Football Foundation was created in 2000 but, after years of underinvestment, we are playing catch-up in making grassroots football facilities fit for purpose and matching supply to demand. It’s contribution to building communities is crucial; 50% of the Football Foundation’s investment is directed into the 40% most deprived and inactive communities.

As noted above, we need at least 2,000 new artificial grass pitches and 12,000 grass pitches to meet demand, and ensure that those who want to play, have access to the appropriate facilities to do so.

· What examples are there of best practice which has positively impacted community cohesion?

We are committed to ensuring that football is a unifying force, and by widening access and working to ensure that football is a sport that all communities can engage with, football can serve as a driving force for social cohesion around the country. 

Football is four times more popular than any other team sport in adults from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and over 1,000 FA programmes are run in the most deprived areas across England. We recognise the power that football has to bring people together, and have developed a number of strategies to further this.

We have worked to expand our faith in football series that has engaged thousands of fans; we have upskilled County Football Association and strengthened our EDI Ambassador network; we have and continue to actively collaborate with stakeholders on campaigns to tackle misogyny and empower women in football; and we run successful Respect campaigns across the game. 

In order to tackle discrimination, we are creating a culture where prejudice and abuse is routinely challenged and addressed. We are launching new anti-discrimination standards for grassroots football; building on the Enough is Enough campaign; and educating people on the range of actions they can take and encouraging them to report and tackle discrimination. We are committed are committed to making sure everyone involved in football feels safe and welcome, and that football can become a focal point for community cohesion across communities in England.

As a result of this work, grassroots football is growing rapidly, and by 2028 we expect a 50% increase in the number of female players, and we are working to diversity football's leadership and to grow the number of coaches and referees from historically under-represented groups. In football we currently have a record number of women and girls playing the game. We also have a record number of people from Black, Asian, Mixed, and other ethnic backgrounds playing. We also have increased representation of Women, Black, Asian, Mixed, and other ethnic backgrounds within coaching and refereeing.

For example, The FA has the target to increase the number of Black and Asian Referees by 50% by 2026. However, having recruited 2,527 from Black Asian and Mixed Heritage backgrounds since the refereeing strategy was launched in 2023, we have already exceeded this target.

Our ‘EDI Community of Practice’ supports those in the men’s and women’s grassroots game by providing opportunities and collaboration on Equality, Diversion and Inclusion (EDI) Topics. Currently there are 31 members across seven County FA regions, the Men’s League National System, and the women’s pyramid.

You can read more about our new 2024-2028 EDI strategy here.

· How should community cohesion be best approached in schools

The benefit to children and young people to having access to sport and physical education in school goes beyond the clear health and educational benefits - 78% of children who play football regularly say it helps them to communicate with others more easily, and this translates into £6m savings through crime reduction, and its associated benefits.

The positive effect that football has on the mental and physical health of young people contributes to the positive effect that it has on communities. 92% of children who play football regularly say it makes them happier and 86% say it enhances their confidence. This can be quantified as to saving £21m from preventing children from not being in education, employment or training and over £908m overall in social value.

Of course, school is the only place where children are guaranteed physical education and access to sports. It’s therefore really important that this access is available to everyone and of high quality- this might help pupils create a sporting habit for life and join community clubs. We would therefore advocate that PE and School Sport is a core subject; that there is a guaranteed 2 hours in curriculum; that equal access is provided to all; and that quality and equal access is measured.  

January 2025