Club News

FA Announce Major 2018 Plans

THE Football Association [The FA] has announced a series of new initiatives and investments which will have a significant impact, both on the organisation itself, and for all of English football.

The announcements include a range of measures aimed at improving the culture of The FA and considerable new investment into every level of the game. These include:

  • New policies, procedures and changes to the support structure around England teams at St. George’s Park.
  • A significant new commitment to making The FA a more inclusive and diverse organisation.
  • An increase to the contribution and leadership from The FA in supporting inclusion and anti-discrimination across all of English football.
  • A new initiative to ensure a greater level of engagement from senior ex-professionals and managers in The FA’s work.
  • Increased independence and transparency in The FA’s decision making process.

The announcement also includes a range of substantial new strategic investments in the game which will be made from the 2018-19 season. This will total around £180m per year going directly back into football, which is up from £123m in the previous year, representing a 38% increase.

The FA is a not-for-profit organisation that is now able to make this new investment due to increased revenue from the sale of The Emirates FA Cup and England broadcast deals, a new long-term partnership with Nike and the consequence of the corporate re-structure in 2015. This has enabled The FA to operate more efficiently.

The new investments include:

  • More than double The Emirates FA Cup prize fund from the 2018-19 season. This will benefit all participating clubs at every stage of the competition
  • Pay off the Wembley National Stadium debt. This will be done by the end of 2024, ensuring we can remove the burden of debt repayment from then on. At present repayment rates, this means £2-3m saved every year after 2024 and invested back into the game
  • Significantly increasing our investment into grassroots facilities by £9m per year. This money will support a range of new and existing facility programmes to meet the needs across grassroots clubs, County FAs, local authorities and education sites, including a new mini-pitch programme in primary schools and grassroots clubs up and down the country
  • Increasing our investment in grassroots participation activities by nearly £6m per year.
  • Investing directly into the 20,000 grassroots affiliated clubs to ensure that each of the 64,000 mini-soccer and youth teams has a minimum of a Level One coach, providing our youngest players with the quality coaching they deserve.
  • The establishment of a new Community Club Hub network. Over 150 large-scale clubs across England will receive direct investment and resource support to deliver development outcomes. Each Hub will also have a subsidised UEFA B Coach mentor to work across their club and wider community.
  • A new Volunteer Strategy to invest directly in succession planning and training across the Leagues and Clubs network. This will include a reward and recognition element  Establishment of a recreational growth fund to support recreational football including small sided, Futsal and walking football.
  • Sustain and enhance the disability growth fund to support growth in disability football
  • Increasing our investment in the women and girl’s game by an additional £50m over six years to ensure the sustainability of successful initiatives such as the SSE Wildcats programme, which will see 3,200 new Wildcats centres by 2020, and also ensuring the Women’s Super League gets the support it requires as it grows. This is all part of The FA’s commitment to double participation in women’s football and to ensure consistent success on the world stage.

Martin Glenn, FA Chief Executive Officer, said: "The initiatives and investments announced today will make a significant impact to the way football is run in this country. They illustrate both how committed The FA is to becoming a more inclusive and diverse organisation, and how much it contributes to English football. The FA will now invest over £180m a year back into the game, more than we have ever done before, which will have a positive and meaningful impact at every level of football in England."