At the start of this week, the FAI published its new Strategic Plan to bring the Association out of the darker places it has explored over the past three years and into a new era.
Every step forward in the right direction has to be encouraged. Politicians will always admit to it being much easier in opposition when you can be against most things, harder when you come to power and have to find the solutions.
Below we have repeated our take on the six strategic pillars that have been identified and the benchmarks, targets and actions that have been put in place.
First though let’s go deeper into the 68-page document and take a closer look at what are described as the Enablers, from Trust to Technology and Investment to Inclusion, and analyse the markers that have been laid down on the road to progress through 2025.
Building a Best-In-Class Fit-For-Purpose Organisation
A cascade of good governance, giving confidence to members and external stakeholders, and rebuilding faith that the FAI is being run for the benefit of the game. That is the bold but essential bounce back from the period in which all of those were damaged. They are not the first to have fallen found of shortcomings in areas of governance but they now have to be a poster child for the renewed emphasis being placed on the sports sector.
Applying a cure to identified ills is often a springboard to come back as a much stronger entity. Over the lifetime of the Irish Sports Council and then Sport Ireland, we have seen crises of huge proportion at Basketball Ireland, Swim Ireland and the Olympic Federation of Ireland. Aas they stand today each is in a stronger place than they could have imagined at the nadir of their own troubles. That is the real benchmark here and while it can be hard to define, there are clear pathways of learning from the past, changing in the present and being better in the future.
The Plan lists five key needs in this space and equivalent metrics to judge progress by.
Ensure the FAI is perceived as a high-quality organisation run with integrity and a high standard of governance, which will be measured by an annual appraisal of quality and integrity.
Delivering a common governance framework covering how the game and its constituent parts should be run. The FAI leadership has been climbed through by successive reports to be given a series of governance targets that are being met on a rolling basis. The plan outlines how relevant training and guidance will now be rolled out to all affiliates, leagues and clubs in 2022, with a common framework in place at every level by 2025.
Next is the money side of things, crucial to every other aspect and described here as the development of a sustainable business model with predictable and consistent income, good cost control, strategic commercial relationships and investment secured from Government and other stakeholders, unnamed but clearly referring to UEFA and commercial lending, for facilities and other strategic investments.
There are hard numbers here, despite the delivery of them depending in large part on tournament qualification and other factors outside the control of the authors. They suggest that by the end of 2025 that turnover should exceed €50 million, that there should be a ringfenced cash reserve of €6 million, that deferred income should be pushed below €10 million and the financial calculation of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) over revenue should be above 10 per cent.
It would have been more powerful to have set tighter timeframes showing the progression of this, as four years out in a financial forecast can be something of a finger in the air.
Some will ask if it is ambitious enough. In 2019, before the pandemic, the GAA recorded total revenues of €118 million. Football would see itself as an equal one of the big three but there has been a financial gap opening up between Rugby and Gaelic games and football. That gap is likely to be expanding if this is the figure arrived at.
In terms of trust, the final two elements in this section are to achieve UEFA’s Gold standard safeguarding criteria which is essential on an annual basis and to publish a Football Social Responsibility strategy that will be built this year and launched in 2023.
Embracing Digital Technologies
What is measured is managed and what is managed is improved. Digital technology will be seen by fans as staying on top of social media and communication where it is already a strong performer.
This goes deeper though with the delivery of a new Football Management System to be delivered this year and operational by 2023.
It has been a long term objective and it has never been more important for the management of a large organisation and for its appeal to sponsors and partners to know the ins and outs of what is happening.
Consistent registration, reporting and measuring of clubs, players, referees and fans allows for greater knowledge of where there may be issues and how the relationship can be improved.
Basing appeal on a soft sentiment basis is OK up to a point and maybe the secret sauce in getting to a better place but the 90 per cent that makes it happen, just like the work on a training pitch lies in detailed preparation
As part of this control of the data is vital for trust and mandated by UEFA. The initial rollout of a central data warehouse will commence in 2022 and be fully in place by 2025.
Included in this section is the creation of a standalone division dedicated to digital transformation by 2023 and with the first job on its list being the creation of a ‘new, user-friendly’ compatible FAI website and apps.
Branding and Communications
A new brand strategy will be developed this year, launched and implemented by 2023. Everything is potentially on the table here from the name of the organisation to the logo, all of which will be part of a brand position and listing of values that are an important part of any modern organisation.
It is an area that is often sniffily dismissed as being money for old rope but how you are seen through the eyes of others is not something that happens by chance. The Olympic Federation of Ireland, Sport Ireland and Golf Ireland did not exist under those brands five years ago and yet now stand proud behind what their name and visual identity represent.
There will also be a new identity created for the League of Ireland, by the third quarter of this year and launched in time for the 2023 season.
The element here on Major events listed the men’s Europa League Final which will be held here in 2024 and will hopefully have to be updated if we succeed in a bid to be part of the Euro 2028 Finals.
Finally in this section, the number element is to achieve improved Net Promoter Scores (a measure used to judge how we feel about an organisation) every year of the Plan.
The Financial Question
This is the area that brought the association to its knees and is the one that will generate the headlines. Already under the new regime there is a greater openness and transparency about the way in which finances are reported internally and externally. That was a critical first step.
Now the targets are simple and laid out for us all to hold to account.
A new primary Commercial partner for the Men’s National Team is targeted to be secured within 2022.
Revenue from partnerships and sponsorship is to be up by 50 per cent by the end of 2025. Again this may be seen as a little conservative given that there is no main commercial partner in place at the moment.
Broadcast and content revenue to increase by 25 per cent in the same period. The international rights will be the bulk of this and negotiated centrally but signs in that space remain positive. The other element will be from live streaming and where that can go.
Retail and licensing income is targeted to double by the end of 2025, while ticketing and hospitality is to be increased by 25 per cent over what was achieved in the last comparable year of 2019.
The big-ticket items of Government, Sport Ireland, UEFA, FIFA and EU funding, which saved the Association in 2020 have been loosely included to have initial positions agreed across 2022 while cost control savings across ‘key areas’ are ‘to be agreed on an annualised basis but not listed or quantified.
Developing a Collaborative and Inclusive Culture
The introduction to this final enabler states that “We will embrace and embed a new, more collaborative and inclusive culture across Irish football, with the FAI leading from the centre as a progressive organisation that makes decisions and takes action for the good of the game in line with our values.”
Values and Behaviours, Staff Engagement and Culture, Leadership and recognition are all listed as important areas for development but with the only detail being that they will be developed in 2022 and then rolled out to 2025.
An FAI Young Leaders Council has been identified for development in 2022 and implementation in 2025.
Finally, there is a commitment to the creation of specific annual business plans around the implementation of the strategy and annual reporting to be implemented starting in 2023. The only audience identified is the FAI General Assembly but we can only hope and expect that this will be published openly to be scrutinised by those of us who take an interest in these things, for the benefit of that overall return to trust and good standing.
Here once more is the list of six strategic pillars we discussed earlier in the week…
There are six strategic pillars and each one has a list of specific needs and key dates and performance targets to achieve them:
Transforming Football Facilities and Infrastructure
First things first, we need to know what is there. A nationwide audit of facilities is underway and will be completed by the end of this year. Everybody gets most exercised about the individual facility they are most familiar with. The reality is though that creating the right number of different levels of the facility, and making the most of them is the best way forward.
Every constituency in Ireland wants its own hospital but giving something to everyone means the default is what is OK and perhaps rarely what is best. Of course, there should be a database of facilities but now at least there will be, within a year.
The delivery of that will enable the multiple strategies and plans that will then be created to leave us with what are described as “appropriate, strategically located facilities.”
A “broader football development infrastructure review” will be at the top of the pile when the new Director of Football is appointed and that will determine the requirement for regional and perhaps a national centre of excellence.
Driving Grassroots Football as the Heart of the Game
For most of the 80,000 volunteers, there are in the game, this will be the first port of call. There is a regular cry that too much time is expended on the International teams and the League of Ireland so this being listed above them as a strategic pillar is a good start.
It is also the area of the plan where the firmest numbers have been set.
300,000 registered players would represent a more than 30 per cent increase by the end of 2025. An increase of 50,000 female players is even more ambitious but it is coming from a lower base with a lot of positive movement from the Women’s Super League, our own National teams and a general impetus behind Women’s sport to back it up.
You have to start young and the target is for a 50 per cent increase in schools participating in programmes over the next four years, so that three quarters of primary and half of secondary schools are involved.
There is also a target to create 30 new entry-level clubs and to move at least 20 each year to the one-star level of the ClubMark, and eight to the two-star level.
Providing the support for clubs to set their own ambitious targets will be crucial to this but so long as those targets are frequently monitored there will be an incentive to do so.
Nurturing Football Pathways for All
The creation of a pyramid structure is central to this element but the detail is lighter than in other areas with consultation yet to take place and presumably waiting on the guidance of the new Director of Football.
Giving players the opportunity to play is the most important thing for most, giving the fewer number that have the greater talent the chance to develop that is something we have tended to leave to others. This holds out the prospect that a national player pathway can be created to ‘bring it home.’
Developing the Full Potential for Women and Girls
At the introductory level, the UEFA Disney Playmakers Programme has been a success and much emphasis is placed on that as the gateway to getting more young girls involved. Increasing the number of programmes from 60 this year to 120 in ’23 and 240 in ’24 will breed enthusiasm and create the right framework for achieving the target above of 50,000 new female players over the next four years.
Putting in place a target of 40 per cent gender balance representation across the FAI Board, General Assembly and committees by the end of 2023 will be a significant change but with Leadership programmes also on the agenda it should be possible and it is vital it should be aimed for.
As always when it comes to debates on quotas and minimum numbers this should not be at the cost of having people in positions for which they are less qualified. The point is that your ability to contribute is defined by your own enthusiasm and talent, not by your physiological makeup.
Putting in place a target of 300 UEFA Licensed coaches by the end of 2025 is another step in the right direction, one that will be monitored and measured.
Framing the Future of the League of Ireland
A third tier in the Men’s League by 2023, a second tier in the Women’s by 2025 and a unified brand identity for both and for the underage Leagues ahead of the start of the 2023 season looks ambitious. Some commentary has already questioned whether it is right to go bigger when there are problems within the existing structure of clubs, facilities and even survival.
Targetting sell out Extra.ie and Evoke.ie FAI Cup Finals is easier to say but in many ways dependent on the clubs that get there. Perhaps a more deep-rooted target to increase the overall attendance at league of Ireland matches might have a longer-lasting impact but perhaps that will come over the time period of the plan.
Building for International Success
The plan states a need to “Be consistently competitive at all age levels and deliver success in each qualification phase/ tournament participated in.
UEFA Euro 2024 Qualification is one of the hard performance indicators. The Women’s team gets a one or both pass with the Women’s World Cup 2023 and/or the UEFA Euro 2025 tournament as qualification targets.
A Top 30 UEFA Ranking for Senior teams and Top 20 for underage is attainable with the right structures in place, which brings us, and the FAI back into the detail.
