THE new Suffolk FA 2024-2028 Strategy ‘Driving the Local Game’ is launched following The Football Associations (The FA) new national strategy to grow and develop grassroots football in England, titled ‘A Thriving Grassroots Game’ .

The FA’s overall four-year strategy, ‘Inspiring Positive Change Through Football’, is aimed to take English football forward, with a clear focus on the biggest opportunities and challenges that need to be addressed.

Suffolk FA’s new four-year strategy has been in development over 12 months, starting back in November 2023, with The FA’s Roadshow ‘A Conversation About Our Game’.

These roadshows invited the grassroots game to take part in the biggest-ever consultation with the grassroots and non-professional game, with the aim to support sustainable growth over the next four years.

The FA invited views from players, coaches, referees, volunteers, parents, supporters and County FA, league and club officials. Following on from this, Suffolk FA undertook their own county-wide Roadshows in January 2024 alongside an online survey to bring the consultation to life on a local level.

These Roadshows focused on behaviours, volunteers, workforce, youth, adult and disability football.

Suffolk FA Football Development Manager Matt Stebbings said: “Suffolk FA, along with The FA, have listened to what we were told during the consultation and The FA have produced a number of key Strategic Priorities and Drivers that we will focus on for the next four-year cycle.

“The final version of the strategy brings these to life, into tangible objectives which we will work with Suffolk grassroots football to deliver against.

“Suffolk football, like everyone else, undertook some significant challenges in the last strategy cycle. The world, and football were coming back from COVID-19 and its effects and our aim at that time was to ‘Revive The Local Game’.

“Our new strategy is looking forward and now it is our challenge to ‘Drive the Local Game’, leading the way for Suffolk Football, proactively addressing the challenges and opportunities which lie ahead.

“Suffolk FA’s vision remains the same, ‘A Thriving Local Game, that enhances the lives of people across Suffolk’.”

Suffolk FA’s new strategy will work collaboratively with The FA’s Grassroots strategy which sets out a clear direction of travel for grassroots football in England and outlines five priority areas, including;

• Improving playing choice and opportunity – To create new and varied playing opportunities to give everyone a chance to play the game, in a way that suits them best
• Deliver equal opportunities for women and girls to play – To ensure every woman and girl who wants to play football has an opportunity to do so in a safe and enjoyable setting and in a way that suits their lifestyle
• Build more, and improve existing, facilities – To increase the quality and quantity of grassroots football pitches and facilities across England, to better meet the demand
• Tackle poor behaviour – To see a decline in cases of poor behaviour of any kind, and to increase reporting of discrimination, ensuring enjoyment is at the forefront of playing, volunteering or officiating grassroots football
• Develop a valued network of volunteers, coaches and referees – To grow the number of grassroots volunteers, coaches and referees, and ensure they all feel valued and supported to fulfil their roles in the game

Matt Stebbings continued: “Within the strategy document, Suffolk FA have developed headline and key objectives from the consultation with Suffolk Football, which we plan to deliver and drive Suffolk football forward in a positive way.

Through the new strategy, the Suffolk football will play a pivotal role in delivering three of the four FA ‘game-changer’ priorities over the next four years. These are to create equal opportunities for women and girls, transform the pitch landscape nationally and see a game free from discrimination.

Both The FA and Suffolk FA’s strategies outlines three key drivers to deliver this:

• Support thriving community clubs – To support a network of thriving community clubs to provide a brilliant football offer to their local communities, to grow in a sustainable way, and to be well-run
• Connect and serve participants – To improve our digital offering and deliver new online services which are personalised, easy to access and help participants to fulfil their roles and find new opportunities
• Progress the game’s governance – To better serve all football participants through the highest governance standards, at all levels in the grassroots game

Richard Neal, Suffolk FA CEO, said “The social and economic value of football in Suffolk has been calculated as £267.8m per year, demonstrating the importance of the game to the social and economic health of the county.

“The 2024-28 Strategy outlines a number of new local initiatives planned for the next four years, complimenting national FA interventions which we will have an important role in delivering, which will develop and enhance the local game, further building the social and economic value of grassroots football in Suffolk.

“We look forward to working with the Suffolk football community to deliver the 2024-28 Strategy over the next four-year period.”

To coincide with the launch of the grassroots strategy, The FA has also published a new report which sets out that the social and economic value of grassroots football in England equates to £15.9bn to society each year, up from £10.2bn in 2021. 

To read the full Suffolk FA ‘Driving the Local Game’ strategy click the link below.

SUFFOLK FA STRATEGY 2024-2028

To read the full FA Grassroots Football and FA Group Strategies and full ‘Social and Economic Value of Grassroots Football in England’ report click the link below.

THE FA GRASSROOTS STRATEGY 2024-2028 'A THRIVING GRASSROOTS GAME'

 THE FA GROUP STRATEGY 2024-2028 'INSPIRING POSITIVE CHANGE THROUGH FOOTBALL