Football Development
The four Pillars shape our football development work are:
Participation
Providing inclusive playing opportunities for all abilities.
ECFA aims for further education football to be diverse and be fully inclusive. Working with key partners and stakeholders, we want to inspire more people to play football more often by promoting, supporting and delivering enjoyable, inclusive, flexible and appropriate playing opportunities for all.
Competition
Delivering quality competitive playing opportunities.
ECFA aims to provide a high-quality male, female, and disability football and futsal competitions pathway for further education students. We promote, support and deliver a range of high-quality football and futsal competitions for student which includes: National and regional leagues, national cup competitions, small-sided regional and national championships and recreational festivals.
Workforce
Developing the staff and student workforce.
ECFA aims to develop the future workforce by providing students with a world-leading FE youth leadership educational and training programme, which provides high-quality learning and enhances student employability. We support member colleges and stakeholders to recruit, develop, deploy and retain student volunteers through a cross-curricular approach, using football leadership as value added to students’ study programmes.
Community
Partnering with the community to provide opportunities.
ECFA works with member colleges, key stakeholders and partners to develop football within local communities; with an emphasis on utilising the unique skills and expertise of Further Education institutes, their student workforce and their facilities to support grassroots football clubs and schools. We deliver networking events and conferences for stakeholders to share best practice, and aim to be recognised as providing outstanding football and educational services to students, further education institutions and their communities, and our ECFA partners. ECFA aims to support and recognise the outstanding work of our members, stakeholders and partners in developing grassroots football.
