Only Jumpers For Goalposts: An Introduction

The England national football team are a source of guaranteed discourse across the country, with the vast majority of people having an idea as to how the national team can improve, and win a major tournament for the first time since 1966.

One of the main topics of discussion in recent years has been grassroots football in the UK. In 2014, it was confirmed that the FA had lost over 1.6 million in public funding for grassroots football due to severe drops in participation. According to the BBC, 83% of amateur football matches take place on council owned football pitches in the UK, which the FA have stated are in an 'abhorrent' condition.

For my Major Multimedia Project for my final year at Bournemouth University, I will be looking to explore these issues via the radio medium, with the aim of creating a seven minute documentary based on the issue.

I will look into how important grassroots football is for peoples livelihoods and explore cases of this, with people around the country giving up their time in order to help local grassroots football projects or teams. One case study will be Bournemouth FC Poppies, a Sydenham's Wessex League team who struggle with the financial constraints of being a semi professional club.

I will also delve into issues such as why grassroots football is becoming a real cause for concern for the FA. Why are young people not participating as much? Is it due to the rising costs of accessibility to top flight football, something young people often take inspiration from when they gain a desire to play football?

Grassroots is a key source of football talent for this country, with all of England's talented players having a backstory to them, and often grassroots football is a big part of it.