Essex County Football Association Annual Report (2019/20) @EssexCountyFA EssexFootball EssexFA www.essexfa.com Grassroots Football Festival Chief Executive's Report Since the impact of Covid-19, it has been an exceptionally challenging period for Credit, rightly, goes to everyone behind the scenes at club and league committee level grassroots football in Essex, and for wider society. As we entered into January involved in making that happen, as well as the coaches, volunteers, parents, referees 2020, I think very few people could have predicted the position we find ourselves and stakeholders. in today and the impact Covid-19 had in bringing many sectors of society to a standstill, including the grassroots football sector. Progress also continued in the delivery of our ‘Moving Forward Strategy 2018-21’ and at the heart of our strategy is our vision of “Creating a united grassroots football Before Covid-19, we were on-course for another successful season as well as looking environment which delivers football opportunity for all”. forward to the inspirational prospect of Euro 2020 and the positive impact major tournaments can have on participation at the grassroots level. We are now approaching the end of this three-year strategic plan but what has been achieved during this period gives a strong foundation to build upon towards 2024. Then, in March, the terrible impact of the pandemic hit, and our focus and thoughts turned Our strategic objectives were set out in four Strategic Pillars: to everyone who has been affected during this time. It is also important to acknowledge the NHS staff and key workers throughout this period and the tremendous work they Engagement: ‘To develop new and enhance existing offers to engage all stakeholders have undertaken. and formats of the game by putting the participants’ needs at the heart of the game’ During this period, we have had to take some very difficult decisions to help balance Engagement with our stakeholders, and the ability to grow and utilise modern the financial position of the organisation. It was well documented that Covid-19 had a communication platforms to engage with more participants, has been vital. During this significant blow on The FA’s finances where it was disclosed The FA planned for period we have grown our Twitter following to nearly 26,000, making the Essex £300 million of losses up to 2024. This, naturally, had an impact on the funding County FA the most followed County FA in the country. distributed down to County FAs. As well as this, Essex regularly achieved the most engagements in the country to the However, the financial position of the association has served it well during this period FA National Grassroots Survey in successive years which, in turn, has allowed us to listen and allowed the Essex County FA to continue to focus on serving its members and trying to the feedback and adapt services to meet the needs of stakeholders. to support the many thousands of volunteers and players across the game to come back to the game when it was able to return. Our network of clubs and leagues has been critical in the process of engagement and, through our award-winning Club and League Participation Reviews, we have been able This was demonstrated with the decision to offer free affiliation, along with a 100% to utilise data and insight to help inform clubs and leagues with their own decision-making contribution for Public Liability Insurance and 50% towards Personal Accident Insurance to help engage more participants. for the 2020/21 season for our members. Overall, this has contributed to an 8% increase in the number of teams playing football, Despite the challenging climate that we have been in, the grassroots football workforce with nearly 4,700 teams playing football across Essex. has shown tremendous resilience, and commitment, to respond to the ever-evolving and changing situation around Covid-19, to be able to provide the opportunity for players of all ages to participate in the game. Essex County Football Association Annual Report (2019/20) 3 Corporate Governance: ‘To be an inclusive, accountable and transparent decision-making Dagenham, has led to circa £8 million of investment allocation into new football facilities in organisation to develop, safeguard and support football’ the borough. Our work in this pillar has focused on our progress towards achieving Tier 3 status of Sport Operations: ‘To be the strategic lead for football in Essex’ England’s Code of Governance and, more recently, The FA’s Code of Governance for County FAs (which you can see at http://bit.ly/CFACOG). Each department has a specific department-focused strategy which drives the day-to-day and season-by-season activity of the department. The focus across each department has This work underpins all aspects of the organisation and changes to the Essex County FA been to use data and insight to drive decision-making. Our growth since 2018 in specific Articles of Association have seen the Board increase in size from five directors to nine. areas has been significant despite the Covid-19 impact going into the 2021/22 season: There is also a new open application process in place for Independent Non-Executive Directors (INEDS) to come directly onto Board, helping to enhance skills, knowledge • the male pathway has had a 7% growth in youth football, 3% in open-age, and experience at Board level. 7% in veterans football and a 26% growth in Walking Football • the female pathway had had a growth of 56% in youth football and 19% in open-age, This allows for more business skills to be married with the football knowledge within as well as more than 80 Wildcats centres being delivered across the county the organisation, maximising the impact of the County FA and helping ensure good • the disability pathway has had a 12% growth in youth and 5% in open-age governance practices are in place. • at the end of the 2019/20 season, the number of referees had grown by 5% and, within that, included an increase in referees from ethnically diverse communities This has led to four new INEDS or Board Advisors coming onto the Board, as well as the and the number of female referees reinvigoration of our Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG), with new members and a new IAG • our Coach Education Department delivered a high-quality programme, engaging more Chair who links directly into the Essex County FA Board of Directors, ensuring equality than 2,000 learners on an annual basis and inclusion matters are represented at the highest levels of decision-making. • our Safeguarding Department continued to ensure a safe environment for grassroots football as we continue to achieve the FA Safeguarding Operating Standard Progress has been made on our application for the Intermediate Status of the Equality • our Governance Department continued to support the rollout of technology through Standard, which is on-track for submission in June. The Board also welcomed a new Chair player registration, where we are now at almost 100% player registration coverage in Andy Chaplin, who was appointed at the end of the 2019/20 season to lead the Board going into the 2021/22 season and beyond. These represent an example of some of the progress made, but there is more detail contained within this report highlighting the excellent work which has taken place Business: ‘To develop a sustainable business model that promotes innovation and within each department. continuous improvement, attracting inward investment’ THE BOARD The Covid-19 pandemic, and cuts in FA funding, have placed pressure on the income streams of the business but, despite this, the business has remained in a very strong Wayne Deller remained as Chairman for the 2019/20 season, with Barry Fitzgerald, and secure position. We continue to undertake prudent financial management and Andrew Chaplin, Dave Emerton and Toyin Higgs beginning the season as the budget-planning across all our financial investments whilst maintaining high levels of Directors of the Essex County FA, along with the Board continuing to oversee service towards grassroots football. all matters of company operations. We have also developed strong partnerships with outside organisations which have helped However, in March 2020, Toyin Higgs resigned from her role as the Essex County FA’s first to drive inward investment, both into the Essex County FA, but also into grassroots football. Independent Director. Toyin’s work commitments, which saw her take on a role with The FA, meant she was unable continue to provide full commitment to her role on the Board The securing of funding from the Football Foundation towards the development of the with the Essex County FA. FA Parklife Scheme at Parsloes Park, in partnership with the London Borough of Barking & Essex County Football Association Annual Report (2019/20) 4 Although only a relatively short period on the Board, Toyin helped support the organisation The volunteer Council Members again undertook their regulatory and management role to continue to develop, with a specific focus on safeguarding, and the Essex County FA and they were involved in many Council, disciplinary, refereeing, competitions and rules wished her well in her new role. meetings throughout the 2019/20 season. Due to the impact of Covid-19 the Board elections due in May were delayed, taking place 2019/20 Council Members: Morris Jeffers, Gordon Snell, Richard Brooks, Michael Hemsted, in July 2020. These elections saw Wayne Deller step down from his role as Chairman and Edward Rhymes, Michael Game, Alec Berry, David Threadgold, Sheryl MacRae, Andy Chaplin was appointed as the new Chair of the Essex County FA to lead the Board David Emerton, Wayne Deller, Roger Crane, Barry Fitzgerald, Kevin Curran, Mark Holmes, going into the 2021/22 season and beyond.