Less than 12 hours after confirming its part in a bid to stage the Euro 20208 Finals across the islands of Britain and Ireland, the FAI launched a new strategic plan to cover the period that will get us halfway to that point.
Everything yesterday was taking place online and so the reaction of those who will be most impacted by the changes that it promises was restricted only to those who share their thoughts on social media. That tends not to be the most positive of environments and the overall sense was one of deflation, backed up in some of the commentary across the mainstream media this morning.
Coming from where the FAI was a little under three years ago, 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.
This is a detailed stab at doing just that.
Current Picture
It outlines the current picture of where football is in this country – 1,186 grassroots clubs, half of them offering girls and women’s football; 221,500 registered players; 11,400 coaches; 32,042 Primary school children playing organised games.
CEO Jonathan Hill opens his introduction to the 68-page document with the bold claim that Football is the biggest sport in Ireland. It certainly has the potential but coming off the back of a weekend when Rugby dreams were taking flight and over half a million tuned in to watch the opening rounds of the Allianz Leagues in the GAA, there is a bit to go towards getting there.
That is the point of a Strategic plan though, to look up from the fine detail and paint a picture of what needs to be done in order to get there.
It can be criticised for being aspirational rather than functional, for setting targets rather than fixing lightbulbs and for using gloss when there is a day to day need for more basic paintwork. But again that misses the point of what it is.
Firm Targets
Beyond the fine words of the introduction, you can only judge a plan in advance by what it sets as firm targets when they might be achieved by, and by whom the work will be done.
In this, the FAI plan is a good starting point.
It is borne of a wide consultation process though when the future of the Association is on the line one might have hoped for a little more thoughtful engagement than 5,709 respondents to a research survey and 40 written submissions.
Given that everyone within the sport will have an opinion on what has emerged, there might have been a little more enthusiasm in trying to put forward alternatives.
Nevertheless, there is a benchmark for where things are and so to the ways in which that can be built on.
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.
We will take a closer look at what are described as the enablers of this in tomorrow morning’s Sport for Business AM Bulletin.
