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Last Chance to Renew Your England Football Accreditation!
The Club Portal is open for Accredited clubs to renew their England Football Accreditation status and continue to benefit from the rewards associated with being an Accredited Club.
To start this process, please visit the Dashboard of your Club Portal where you can find your Accreditation checklist and identify the actions that you will need to complete in order to Submit for Renewal via the Club Portal.
The renewals process closes on 30th April, so don’t leave it too late!
Need further support?
We are keen to support your club with this process and should you need any assistance, then please do fill out the short form by Clicking Here to identify where you may need additional support.
Grassroots Football Awards
The Grassroots Football Awards is our opportunity to celebrate the people who make grassroots football great for everyone. They’re for the people who make a positive difference. They’re our way to recognise the fantastic people who put their heart and soul into football across our County FA and England.
Most of all, they’re a time for us to say a huge thank you to those amazing people who inspire us all with a prestigious national awards ceremony where we can all come together.
This season, our volunteers have worked hard to show the true power of football in connecting people, in building communities and enabling more players to enjoy playing our beautiful game.
Let’s show them how much we appreciate their effort, commitment and impact.
Nominations open until 19 April 2023
Middlesex FA - Coach Development Offer
As part of our Coach Development Offer for the 2022/23 season, we are committed to supporting our Coaches & Clubs to provide learning opportunities and resources that will support the development of more skilful players, more inspirational opportunities and develop more transformational coaches.
We will provide a range of FA Accredited CPD events throughout the season in both a face to face and remote environment covering many different topics & themes provided by various expert speakers.
Be the first to find out about any Coach Development Event that we are hosting by signing up to our Coach Development Offer mailing list.
Grass Pitch Update
As we move into the final stages of the 22/23 football season, there is still work to do if we are to meet the target of 120 good quality pitches by July. Having visited sites and engaged with various clubs across Middlesex through March, there is a genuine desire from clubs, local authorities and our fantastic volunteers to improve and regenerate grass pitch facilities. A misconception I have discovered is improving pitches through intensifying maintenance schedules is to strictly take place during the football season only. The different grants available from the Football Foundation such as the Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund are designed to be utilised all year round. So, whilst competitions may be ending soon, your pitch improvements can continue into the summer months to better prepare your clubs for the start of the 2023/24 fixtures. Furthermore, the process for applying for Grass Pitch Maintenance Funding has now been simplified. Previously, a longstanding tenure and/or lease agreement had to be in place between applicants and site owners. This restriction has now been removed and clubs and site owners with a lease or tenure standing over 12 months only need to agree to works taking place through a tenure proforma (see the Foundation website for details). In addition, eligibility for Grass Pitch Maintenance Funding now includes education sites.
HIVE Groundskeeping Community
Predictions indicate we are likely to experience similar conditions this summer as we did in summer 2022. To best prepare your workforce for managing surfaces if conditions are equally adverse, the football foundation have set up the HIVE app. This is a grounds person network whose members include new volunteers to professional groundskeepers working at professional football clubs. This ever-expanding platform is proving to be an exceptional resource for sharing expert advice and examples of best practice.
Energy Fund
To aid with increased costs of living, the football foundation have recognised the need to provide clubs and facilities with additional funding. The energy support programme is designed to give clubs a much-needed financial boost to manage the cost of running ancillary facilities. Expressions of interest are now live!
The Future of Youth Football Workshop - Monday 24th April
The current provision of youth football in England from U7s to U18s to be assessed, with aim to identify new and exciting ways to improve the grassroots game for all young people.
A project will be carried out to explore the future of youth football in England, which will help to identify new and exciting opportunities to improve grassroots football for young players across the country.
Middlesex FA will be hosting a workshop to engage with the local grassroots football community to assess the current set up for different age groups between U7s to U18s and explore if any further improvements can be introduced to help better support children’s developmental needs and serve the game at this level.
We are inviting coaches from the local grassroots community to attend to give views on many areas, including playing formats and game rules to ensure every young player is physically active and given the best game to play for their age and stage of development.
Our ambition is to provide a safe, enjoyable and active sport for every child, every week, while ensuring football plays its part in improving the health of the nation by increasing the levels of engagement, physical activity, skill and technical development for every young player.
Full details of the workshop can be found below
Event Details:
Venue: Silver Jubilee Park Stadium, Townsend Lane, Kingsbury, NW9 7NE
Date: Monday 24th April
Time: 7pm-10pm
Arrival: Please aim to arrive for 6.45pm so the event can start on time