The Greater Game is a purpose-led programme which uses the power of football to improve the health & wellbeing of young people across the nation, inspiring them to make at least one healthier action per week.

Research conducted by The FA found that nearly a third (31%) of young people do not feel the need to exercise and over half (52%) have suffered from a mental health issue in the past year.*

That’s why we created The Greater Game, which is aimed at 12-16s and those associated with this age group (parents, guardians, coaches, teachers, local communities and so on). This is a long-term mission, and we believe that using the power and scale of football, in addition to working with existing and new partners, we can make real change.

The Greater Game exists at a time when less than half of 10-16-year-olds in the UK regularly exercise for an hour a day and 1 in 5 children leave primary school classified as obese. This could be for many reasons, but we believe that a combination of unhelpful social norms and the modern-day environment make it challenging for young people to lead healthier, happier lives.
 
These factors make having good mental and physical health harder than it should be – which has a knock-on impact on the overall happiness, self-confidence, healthy living and achieving full potential (at school and beyond).