At the start of the season, we outlined our commitment to keeping all our grassroots football community updated on the CFA's performance throughout the season. Please see below a summary of our Quarter 2 (October – December 2021) performance against our agreed key performance indicators with The FA and internally as part of our Business Strategy from 2021 through to 2024.

Participation – Players

We are delighted to report that at the conclusion of the affiliation process for season 2021-2022 playing numbers in the male and female pathways have continued to grow from quarter 1 into quarter 2. Our agreed male participation target of 17,806 is classified as a ‘retain’ target is showing an encouraging 8% improvement on the agreed target. This performance against target is exceeded in the female pathway by some 18%. We are currently in the process of finalising a series of spring/summer events and initiatives through 2022, with specific age groups and footballing formats targeted to further grow these participation figures into season 2022-2023 and beyond. It is integral to our new Grassroots Football Strategy that you receive excellent footballing products delivered by the County FA. Performance levels regarding disability football is not to the level we have expected – there are a multitude of factors impacting on this performance – we remain confident with the strong league structure offered by Northumberland Football Leagues as well as the number of new clubs looking to offer disability participation that this underperformance will be corrected in due course.

Participation – Coaching

We have placed coaching at the centre of our new business plan – the offer of an excellent experience in the affiliated game in many ways come from the level and aptitude of the coach leading the team/session/initiative. This starts with being qualified, we are pleased to report that over 90% of coaches operating in the junior affiliated game are qualified. We believe the added continuous professional development of coaches is the next step to ensuring a quality experience – across all formats of the game. Our ‘Coach The Coach’ programme has made a conscious effort to provide learning to coaches of all levels across the full spectrum of the game. Our performance in this offering is clear to see and still growing as we look to finalise plans for further unique experiences in Q3 and Q4 of this current season. We are confident if you wish to progress then we can provide the learning opportunities you need.

Participation – Refereeing

The key figure here is recruitment – we have now exceeded the number of qualified referees expected of us against FA target. The CFA has worked hard to provide as many course places as possible to try and backfill those referees not retained in season 2021-2022. The County FA will be offering a minimum of two further courses before the end of the current season, with some fully funded places available. We continue to work on key levels of infrastructure to support referees and ensure that our retention rate in season 2022-2023 is not a regression as seen in the current season. We hope the creation of a new Referee Advisory Group which met for the first time earlier this month will help further the ideas and support for referees of all levels and acted as a mouthpiece for the grassroots game to feed ideas and/or issues directly in the County FA.

Finance

Northumberland FA is continuing to operate with financial prudence and at the halfway point of the current financial year we are some £3k ahead of budget with a view to achieving our end of year budget of just under £11k. These numbers represent sound financial planning as we continue to fund the correct opportunities to enhance the game in Northumberland – we unfortunately do not have the luxury of a blank chequebook but must instead make wise commitments across our range of services and/or products.

Business Development

Our stable financial position is contributed to by our commercial position, this is made up of a series of partnerships, events and initiatives designed to drive income into the grassroots game. We are extremely confident we will surpass the agreed target for this level of work in 2021-2022 with further ambitious targets set across this current three-year business cycle. This commercial revenue is utilised both directly and indirectly to support the affiliated game. Our Business Development department continues to provide new ways and platforms for engagement – this is demonstrated in our social media returns – we furthermore have rolled out a centralised email system to help support all members and collect further feedback to help improve our service and customer service.

Culture & Personnel

We are delighted to report that returns against targets in this section have remained almost in line with target for quarter one and quarter two. Northumberland FA is always looking to create an environment where staff can work at their optimum – we do have limited human resource so ensuring what we have working efficiently and effectively is key.

Compliance

Due to a change in case management systems, we are currently unable to report on discipline and safeguarding case timings however this change in system will allow for better reporting in the future as well as helping us identify key trends to help ensure our game is kept as safe and fair as possible.