National campaign launched to promote positive behaviours in grassroots football

We have launched a new digital out of home [OOH] and multimedia campaign across England to raise awareness of the action taken against discrimination and poor behaviour in grassroots football.

The tactical, data-led campaign uses examples of real, anonymised incidents which have taken place within each county to display actions and sanctions tailored to every region in England. 

The activity aims to strengthen public understanding of the impact of reporting discrimination and serious misconduct in grassroots football in their area. The bespoke creative assets highlight the varying sanctions that offenders face, including fines and lengthy bans, as we maintain behaviour standards across the game.

Each of the 50+ locally relevant sanctions on display form part of our response to reported incidents in grassroots football across the 2024-25 season. The imposed measures across this period include: 535 years of bans for offences against match officials; 32 years of bans for racist abuse; and 58 years of bans for assaults on opponents. Alongside this, more than 1000 hours of educational courses were undertaken to rehabilitate poor behaviours. 

Latest figures from Love Football, Protect the Game — the cross-football initiative which aims to tackle discrimination, anti-social behaviours and serious misconduct at all levels of the game — show that 99.8% of grassroots football games across England take place without incident. 

The digital OOH strategy incorporates upweighted media placement in areas that are home to the worst 100 behaving clubs based on our 2024-25 reporting figures.  

The campaign runs on weekends nationwide across more than 16,000 digital sites in England throughout November and December.

Joanna Manning-Cooper, Director of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs at The FA, said: “One of our main objectives at The FA is to deliver a game that is safe and enjoyable for all, and completely free from discrimination. 

“Whilst the offences detailed in this campaign only occur in 0.2% of all grassroots football each year, we know the huge impact these incidents have on those affected. 

“One incident is one too many. By demonstrating up and down the country how serious misconduct is dealt with by The FA, we can continue to protect the integrity of grassroots football and the safety and enjoyment of players, officials and volunteers in the game.”