18 april 2006
HEADLINES

WELCOME TO THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE NEWSLETTER

The FA is pleased to launch its first e-newsletter for Football Development, distributed monthly from April to all the development staff nationally at The FA and into the regions.

This newsletter aims to give you national updates, tell you about key events and resources and also to share best practise from around the country. Your feedback is welcome, so contact our Marketing Manager Bev Ward.

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GET INTO FOOTBALL WORLD CUP CAMPAIGN

Next month The FA will launch its first ever cross-football development marketing campaign to maximise on the interest of the World Cup to get fans actively involved in football.

The campaign will specifically target 5-11s and parents, featuring 'real' football people from grassroots coaches and players to England internationals Michael Owen and Eni Aluko. The message will be to visit TheFA.com/grassroots which will relaunch with new, exciting and updated content to support new players, coaches, volunteers and officials.

A pro-forma will be circulated shortly so you can order promotional material and giveaways, such as wristbands, which will be delivered ahead of the campaign launch on May 22.

For more information, please contact your RDM or Marketing Manager Bev Ward.

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THE FA WOMEN'S CUP FINAL
TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Tickets are now on sale for The FA Women's Cup Final, being staged at Millwall FC on Bank Holiday Monday 1st May. The match between Arsenal and Leeds United has become a celebration of women's football with teams travelling across the country to watch the Final. Kick-off is 1.00pm and your support in promoting the match to local girls' and women's teams is much appreciated.

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FA CHAIRMAN OPENS NEW NORFOLK FA OFFICES

The FA Chairman Geoff Thompson visited Norfolk FA last month to launch the County's new headquarters. Unveiling a plaque at the new offices at Meridian Way, Thorpe, in front of officials and guests, Thompson said: “This is a memorable occasion for Norfolk County FA. It's only 10 years ago that they had their first full-time staff and now they have these wonderful offices. If you work in good surroundings you produce much better work.
“The County FAs are our arm in the country and they all make an important contribution to the development of the game.”

The Chairman then went onto watch England beat Iceland 1-0 in a women's international at Carrow Road, watched by a record friendly crowd of over 8,000.

Norfolk FA has also launched a new magazine, mainly written by their community coach.

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after targets are hit in 2005, strategy work begins for 2007-2012

 

In 2005 The FA was awarded the first UEFA Grassroots Charter for its work in developing opportunities for all in football. Thanks to the great work of our 270 staff working in County FAs rolling out our football targets we have made fantastic progress in our five-year strategy.

As work begins on what the next strategy will look like, it's a good point to review the successes of last year. Here are some of the highlights of our programme:

Education

Over 1,000 new Charter Standard Schools have been secured while 800 new teams have competed in ESFA competition. 16,500 pupils have participated in School-Club Link programmes and nearly 4,000 in Out of School Hours programmes.

Clubs & Coaches

With over 800 new Charter Standard Clubs on board in 2005, we are close to hitting the 3,000 clubs mark in Spring 2006. A Coaching Development Strategy has been devised and has seen the appointment of our nine new Regional Coach Development Managers. A target of 7,000 qualified McDonald's coaches was hit and the 8,000 figure will shortly be achieved.

Hat-Trick

£3.4 million of New Deal for Communities funding was secured to support this inner-city programme, with the 19 officers all in place in helping football to address issues in deprived neighbourhoods.

Women's football

A 40 per cent growth in girls' and women's teams was the highlight in a year that saw WOMEN'S EURO 2005 fever hit the nation in June. A new fixture programme across 50 Centres of Excellence was another key achievement.

Small-Sided Football

Last year saw a three-year Futsal plan agreed and with 20 Futsal Leagues in operation the game is really starting to take off. There are also now 270 schools in Futsal pilots. In small-sided, there has been a 12 per cent increase in affiliation to County FAs with the figures now at 19,000.

Disability

At the end of last year there were eight new regional disability leagues and 121 new teams. A Disability Advisory Group was set-up to offer advice on strategy and 12 County FA bids to the Football Foundation were approved

All KPIs are now in place for 2006 and the first quarter plans are coming in for review, so with the World Cup around the corner we're looking forward to making a difference in the final year of the 2001-2006 development strategy.

EASTERN REGION: CASE STUDY

pc coaches in hertfordshire

Four female candidates from Hertfordshire Constabulary have completed The FA 1st4Sport Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Football, with support from McDonald's. Using football to bring communities together, the candidates were chosen specifically because of their work with young people, one aspect of this being to engage them in more positive and healthy activities.

PC Sian Beames from the Eastern Area Tactical team based in Stevenage, Mel Head from the Welwyn Youth Action Team, Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Nina Smith from the Hatfield Community Team and PC Veronica Reeve from the Western Area Beat Crimes Unit based

in Hemel Hempstead, have all undertaken the one week course in their own time.

Kim Leahy who manages the Constabulary’s charity Herts in Trust said: “This is a wonderful opportunity offered to the Constabulary by the Hertfordshire FA and one that we are thrilled to have been involved in. Sian, Nina, Mel and Veronica have gained a recognised qualification in football coaching which will give them more opportunities to become involved with young people and help us to address local issues.”

Karl Lingham, Hertfordshire FA’s County Development Manager said “This has been an excellent opportunity for the County FA Development team to forge successful links with the Hertfordshire Constabulary in order to support football activity in FA Charter Standard Clubs and develop local community initiatives. The McDonald's equipment provided to the four coaches will be put to excellent use in football development projects across Hertfordshire." .
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EVENTS DIARY - APRIL/MAY

• APRIL
• 10-14 England U17 Girls international tournament - various venues in the South West (F)
• 18 England U18 Boys v Slovenia at AFC Bournemouth (F)
• 20 England Women v Austria at Gillingham FC (WCQ)
• MAY
• 1 The FA Women's Cup Final at Millwall FC
• 8 England Disability Teams Caps Ceremony at Soho Square
• 8 England squad announced for World Cup
• 11 England Women v Hungary at Southampton FC (WCQ)
• 19 The FA Women's Football Awards
• 29-1 June Futsal Four-Team International Tournament at EIS, Sheffield (England, Belgium, Belarus, Cyprus)