The multi-million pound deal is first ever specific sponsors of national women’s football in England.
Although it can be seen that the FA and other elite teams such as Manchester United and Arsenal do not have any problem in finding big-money sponsors, smaller non-league teams like Sutton United struggle to find an appropriate sponsor. Schools can also not find appropriate sponsors and rely on local businesses to supply funds to successfully support teams. Some youth teams ask their players for money at the start of the season to pay for pitches, referees or even kits.
Governing Bodies
FIFA is the governing body for the whole of world football and was founded on May 21st 1904. The aim of FIFA is to promote Football at all levels and to control every type of association football by taking steps as shall be deemed necessary or advisable. The FA is the governing body for British football and there are county bodies such as the Surrey FA.
The English Schools FA , manages all of the national school competitions as well as the regional events such as county cups.
LFA, the London FA contols more than 80 leagues, 50,000 players and managers and 1,200 referees in Greater London. Competitions including the London Challenge, Senior, Intermediate, Junior, Ladies and Sunday Cup are controlled by the LFA.London Football Association is directed by the LFA Council, comprised of 5 Divisions of representatives from London's 12 Professional Clubs.
The RA, the referees association, oversees the refereeing of thousands of football matches, with thousands of members. Each national association has its own management team elected by the members, a Board in England and Councils in Wales and Northern Ireland that runs the day-to-day affairs representing the interests of its members.
The Referees’ Association itself now becomes a purely commercial and administrational resource that is shared between and jointly owned by the three national associations.
The PFA, the players’ football association, acts as a union for the players. This has power in the FA which can defend players in the event of any disputes, such as discipline.
Provisions for elite performers
Many elite performers start to progress after representing their school at competitions affiliated to the English Schools FA, such as the ESFA Coca Cola National Cups. These national competitions attract attention from district scouts. After representing their schools talented performers may be selected to represent these District teams. Then the performers could be selected to play for their county or to train with professional clubs youth teams.
I believe that Britain is behind America in progressing their young sporting talent. There are no real scholarships in Britain like there are in the US. Students are expected to complete all school work as well as trying to improve at their chosen sport. There is also very little funding for less glamorous sports than football.
It can also be seen that although footballers who are regularly being paid tens of thousands of pounds a week are living a glamorous lifestyle, there are also thousands of players in the lower leagues who are being paid considerably less. These top-class footballers are set for life, however the less fortunate players who play in the lower leagues will have to retire at around the age of 34 or 35. The retired players usually have no real future as they have given all their lives to football. When they were young they were kicking a football around when they should have been studying. Many face financial ruin.
Additional agencies and bodies
There are many additional agencies that help to ensure the smooth running of football clubs all over the country:
Organisations such as the St Johns ambulance service are at every Sutton United game.
UNICEF has teamed up with non-governmental organizations, private businesses, government agencies and football superstars to establish educational and recreational programs around the world that involve football. The global appeal of football is a tool for engaging young people in a positive future.
TWS Associates Ltd is a specialist consumer marketing agency with over 20 years experience in football focussed campaigns, supporter research and relations.
The government also specifies that all people working with children are child protection officers. This helps to keep all participants free from any harm.
Provision for female competitors
It can be clearly seen that there are many local football teams for men, however there are much fewer for women. This is also the case at professional level in the UK. There are now no full-time professional women’s clubs. This is in contrast to women in football in the USA. The women have their own professional league with there seeming more interest in the women’s game than in the men’s. Due to this, the American women’s national team has been very successful, winning two world cups. This shows just how far the British governing bodies are behind their American counterparts. In the past it has been seen unfeminine for women to play football in the UK. This has come from sexism in previous governments. Female football gets much less coverage on TV with only the Women’s FA cup and internationals shown on TV. Some English women have had to resort to travelling to America to earn a living from football.
Nationwide has sponsorship of the three women’s leagues, under the banner of The F.A. Nationwide Women’s Premier League. Nationwide also enjoy sponsorship of The F.A. Premier League Cup and partner sponsorship of The F.A. Women’s Community Shield, The FA Women’s Cup and the England women’s teams.
Although there are girls teams at schools at the moment, there is much less participation than by the boys. This is because there seems to be no importance in the women’s game. There are local cups as well as county and national cups. Unlike with the boys where there are teams for each year, there are teams for a group of ages, such as under15s or under 18s. This is again due to the lack of participation of the girls. There are a few scholarships for elite women’s footballers at places such as Kingston and Richmond universities, but nowhere near the amount of their male counterparts. These scholarships are obviously only for the elite women footballers. At the moment women’s football in England is not very popular. Even the Women’s World Cup and Women’s football in the Olympics do not draw a lot of viewers. I believe that the only way that women’s football could become more appealing would be if it could be hosted in this country. This would draw a lot of attention to the women’s game.
Provision for disabled athletes
Although there are huge numbers of people playing football all over the country, there are very few organisations who cater for disabled participants.
- The British Football Association for the Visually Impaired, was established in the late 1970’s to allow the opportunity for those individuals aged 16 and upwards with visual impairments, whether totally blind or partially sighted, to participate in football.
From those humble beginnings where only a handful of teams were involved came the implementation of a league system in 1980 and the visually impaired football league catering for partially sighted players has evolved progressively to this day.
Today the British Blind Sport Football League comprises two divisions each containing 7 teams playing 5-a-side indoor football nation-wide - teams from as far a field as the north-east - South Shields - and the south-west - Avon Sports based in Bristol. The North West are represented by Northern Sports (Manchester) and Inter Cosmos mainly Cheshire based. The Midlands have a number of clubs; Birmingham Sports, Midland All-Stars, Loughborough Lions and the Royal National College for the Blind, RNC. The capital is represented by London Sports.
- Fulham Deaf FC was founded in 2003 by a group of deaf footballers led by Nick Beese who was somewhat concerned about the lack of deaf football opportunities in South West London and very keen to make a contribution in improving deaf football welfare in South West London, prior to the setting up of Fulham Deaf, there were only three deaf football clubs registered in the British Deaf Sports National Cup from London, whereas previously there used to be twelve London representations. The number of Deaf football clubs has decreased over the last decade unfortunately due to the lack of support and commitment from the community. Lack of understanding from the outside community has also contributed to this temporary downfall. However it does not mean that the numbers of deaf footballers in London are on the decline, as there are many active deaf five a-side teams in the capital competing in local five-a-side mainstream league.
There are currently 2 types of football in the paralympics:
7 a-side
- Every Football match is played between two teams with seven players on each side, including the goalkeeper. Each team consists of 12 players with three substitutions allowed during each match. A match cannot continue with fewer than four athletes on the field.
There are three rules for Football 7-a-side at the Paralympic Games, which differ from the Olympic rules. Firstly there is no off-side rule. Secondly, throw-ins may be made with one hand (while in Football at the Olympics it must be done with both hands). In this case, the player can roll the ball in such a way that it touches the ground immediately after it is released from the player's hand. Finally the goalkeeper may kick or throw the ball back into play after taking a maximum of four steps. The ball must be outside the goal area before it can be returned to the goalkeeper.
5 a-side
- Every Football match is played between two teams with four blind athletes and one sighted or visually impaired goalkeeper on the field as well as five substitutes. Additionally, each team has a guide behind the opponent's goal to direct the players when they shoot.
Evaluation
In conclusion it can be seen that although football is widely played throughout the British Isles there could be improvements made to accommodate disabled athletes. It can also be seen that women’s football is not seen as very important in this country compared to in other countries. If the FA want women’s football to be as popular as men’s football many attitudes need to change and more youth programmes need to be aimed at young women. This needs to start at school where good female footballers need to be encouraged to continue their football development. Sponsorship and money is a major part of football. The top clubs in the country can easily find sponsors and kit suppliers, while small clubs struggle to cope financially. This could be remedied by extra funds from the government to improve facilities. Many clubs already ask for money to pay for the upkeep of their club and
