FY25 Football Foundation Marketing and Communications Round Up

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS FY25 ROUND UP

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CONTENTS

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3 6 14 65 74 79 86 95 101 Introduction

How we’ve demonstrated impact

Digital results

Campaigns

Unlocking partnerships

Milestone events

Supporters

Media coverage

Looking ahead

INTRODUCTION In FY25, we brought our investment and its impact to life and rounded out the final year of our strategy with an array of openings and campaigns.

Our key marketing and communications objectives remained the same: • Grow attribution - increase recognition of funding partner investment and the impact it makes, particularly amongst Local Authorities and MPs. • Unlock Partnerships – ensure Local Authorities, educational establishments and sites understand the benefits of investing in facilities to unlock partnership funding opportunities and support applicants to overcome planning barriers.

• Support the Grassroots Football community – increase awareness of all funding opportunities available. And when applicants do apply, ensure every engagement with the Foundation is as easy as possible by providing guidance throughout the pre-application, application and post-award process.

• Secure next tranche of additional government funding – increase engagement with MPs and Government, especially new intake of MPs, to showcase our significant funding delivered in constituencies across the country. This included continuing our ‘From the Roots Up’ public affairs campaign following the General Election in July.

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FY25 KEY ACHIEVEMENTS •

Unveiled five more Lioness pitches.

•

Announced the Lionesses Futures Fund facilities with an event at The Leah Williamson Pitch, where we secured a back page feature in the Guardian and our most liked social media post.

•

Opened the Concord PlayZone in Birmingham with EA SPORTS and Football Foundation Supporter Dion Dublin.

•

Refreshed our website with a new look and feel and improved user journey.

•

Recorded our busiest ever PitchPower inspection window (November - March) during our Get Your Pitch Match Fit campaign, helping us hit a milestone of 15,000 reports since launch in 2020.

•

Signed Chelsea captain and England international Millie Bright as our newest Football Foundation Supporter.

•

Hosted two Grassroots Football Drop-in Sessions alongside our funding partners at Parliament attended by more than 140 MPs.

•

Collected content at both the England Women’s and Men’s camps.

•

Hit over 1.4 billion in terms of media reach (a fourfold increase from FY24), providing attribution to our partners across national, local and regional broadcast, online and print outlets.

•

Achieved a reach of over 6.7 million people across our social channels, and collaborated with all our funding partner’s accounts, as well as Manchester United, Chelsea Women, Mary Earps and Leah Williamson.

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WORKING WITH OUR FUNDING PARTNERS Collaborating with our funding partners more than ever before has driven positive momentum and grown our reach, which has in turn driven stronger attribution for all funding partners.

Here are some highlights: • Filmed at England Men’s and Women’s camps.

• Featured on Match of the Day. • Drove 22k visits to our Get Your Pitch Match Fit webpage during the campaign through Get Your Pitch Match Fit adverts on the The FA Matchday App. • Football Foundation was featured heavily for first time in Premier League More Than a Game hero film.

• Welcomed representatives at our MP drop-in sessions and milestone opening events.

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1.HOW WE’VE DEMONSTRATED IMPACT

IMPACT GRAPHICS – FOUNDATION AND FUNDING PARTNER CHANNELS Showcased the incredible impact of our funding partner investment through bespoke graphics for every constituency, local authority, combined authority and County FA in England.

Shared graphics in June and December 2024 with over 2.3k contacts. Encouraged MPs, councillors and metro mayors to post their graphics on their social media channels to help increase our reach amongst their communities and continue building relationships with them.

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CALENDAR YEAR IN REVIEW Rounded off 2024 with a 'Spotify Wrapped' style video, bringing to life the impact of our funding partners’ investment, seasonal graphics and photo montages of our favourite pictures throughout the year. Content was seen by over 34.5k across our social media channels.

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WORKING WITH COUNTY FAS Worked closely with the County FA network throughout the year: • Briefed Football Foundation campaigns at several Facilities Update Webinars.

• Ensured County FA’s had campaign assets to help amplify our messaging on their channels.

• Provided each County FA with bespoke impact graphics for their social media channels to demonstrate the investment into each County FA since 2000.

• Engaged with County FA social posts.

• Collaborated with County FAs to identify a range of impact stories with their area.

IMPACT STORIES Shared the stories of 18 clubs and programmes over the past 12 months, demonstrating wide ranging positive impact of partner investment and aiming to inspire applications for a broad range of funding.

Great Driffield AFC

Keynsham Town

Glossop North End Community Club

Inclusion Plus FC

Acorn FC

Poole High School and Longfleet FC

Saffron Dynamo FC

Acorn FC

Cadishead Sports Junior Football Club

WE WERE SHORTLISTED FOR FOUR AWARDS AND WON SOME TOO! • Shortlisted for Sports Organisation of the Year at the FEVO Sport Industry Group Awards.

• PitchPower won App of the Year at the Prolific North Tech Awards 2024.

• PitchPower was also shortlisted for the Tech for Good Award at the UK Business Tech Awards 2024.

• The Howdens Game Changer Programme was the winner of the Best Football Community Scheme at the Football Business Awards.

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ATTRIBUTION AND AWARENESS SURVEY 2024 • Completed our fourth year of research to measure the attribution and awareness of the Football Foundation, our funding partners, and the understanding of our ambition.

• Two audiences: • Grassroots football community (through The FA database) • Local Authority CEOs, Directors, Councillors and MPs • 1040 respondents • Grassroots Survey Highlights: • 87% awareness of the Football Foundation • We continue to have a strong positive sentiment – over 90% • Attribution to the Premier League increased by 7% • Huge YoY growth in awareness of the Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund from 18% to 53% • Local Authority & MP Survey Highlights: • 97% awareness of the Football Foundation, which is consistent YoY • Improved awareness and attribution to all our funding partners • All funding partners are perceived as positive contributors to investing in supporting grassroots football • Results particularly positive given large intake of new MPs following July General Election

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ATTRIBUTION AND AWARENESS SURVEY 2024

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Table below shows the awareness and attribution percentages and the overall average for all funding partners, across both survey audiences, with the percentage increase/decrease versus the 2023 survey.

Item

Funding partner

Grassroots

LA & MP

Overall

87% (-1%)

97% (-)

92% (-1%)

PL

59%(+7%)

75%(+21%)

67%(+14%)

FA

70%(-3%)

89%(+7%)

79%(+2%)

DCMS

39%(+2%)

67%(+13%)

53%(+8%)

SE

59%(-)

47%(+1%)

53%(-)

Overall

57%

70%

63%

Awareness

Attribution

2. CAMPAIGNS

HERE TO PLAY Our HERe to Play campaign launched in February 2023 and continues to celebrate our biggest ever commitment to delivering facilities that provide equal access to women and girls playing football.

HERe to Play aims to: •

Demonstrate our funding partners’ investment and commitment into making facilities equally accessible to women and girls​.

•

Inspire women and girls to get playing.

•

Encourage clubs and sites to create welcoming facilities for women and girls.

What we’ve been doing this season: •

Opened a further five facilities named after members of the Lionesses squad to mark their success at 2022 UEFA EUROs and achievement of making the final at FIFA World Cup 2023.

•

Announced full set of 35 sites benefitting from the Lionesses Futures Fund.

•

Shared best in class examples of sites who are making a difference to women and girls’ football.

•

Kickstarted implementation of recommendations from Kelly Simmon’s independent review.

•

Continued work with Women and Girls Review Implementation Group to move forward recommendations from the Karen Carney Review.

Joined the Lionesses at their training camps to film content.

Grass Pitch Revolution: New funding to improve football pitches

•

THE MILLIE BRIGHT PITCH OPENING • Over 250 players, parents and members of the community showed up on 17 July at Killamarsh Dynamos FC in Sheffield to witness The Millie Bright Pitch unveiling, and get a glimpse of their home hero.

• Pitch number five of the 30 we’re naming after the Lionesses, this location has particular importance to Millie, as it’s on the same patch of grass where she kicked a ball for the first time, but now of a far greater quality following Football Foundation funding.

• Representatives from the Premier League, The FA, Sport England and DCMS all attended, as did Millie’s family and first ever coach.

• The event was a testament to the role of community in grassroots football, as well as the importance of good quality grass pitches in ensuring everyone has a great place to play.

• A true professional, having completed her media interview with ITV and Sky Millie stayed on for several hours to sign autographs for and take pictures.

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THE MILLIE BRIGHT PITCH - MEDIA COVERAGE

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7 Pieces of broadcast/online/print coverage

360k* Total reach *excludes Sky Sports News piece as Football Foundation mention wasn’t included in the final piece

THE MILLIE BRIGHT PITCH - DIGITAL RESULTS

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We used a mix of video and photos to bring the unveiling to life. This included publishing an array of photos, an event overview film, Millie Bright's Foundation story and an 11 questions film. To ensure we reached as many people as possible, we collaborated with Millie and the Lionesses Instagram accounts, resulting in five collaborations related to the pitch unveiling content.

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677k

37.3k

Collaboration posts with the Total impressions across our social Likes across our channels (Instagram, Lionesses, England Football and Millie media channels (Instagram, X, X, Facebook and LinkedIn) Bright accounts on Instagram Facebook and LinkedIn)

Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.

THE MILLIE BRIGHT PITCH - SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

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THE MILLIE BRIGHT PITCH – EVENT FILM

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MILLIE BRIGHT'S FOUNDATION STORY FILM

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11 QUESTIONS WITH...

23 A person smiling in front of a sign AI-generated content may be incorrect.

THE LAUREN HEMP PITCH OPENING • Lauren Hemp returned to her home city of Norwich on 26 July to unveil her pitch at The Nest, the home of Norwich City Women FC and Norwich City Community Sports Foundation.

• Lauren was greeted with a guard of honour as she arrived to cut the ribbon on her namesake pitch, the sixth of 30 we’re naming in recognition of the Lionesses achievements.

• The many local girls who attended were not only excited to kick a ball about with their hero, but also for the opportunities the new pitch will bring for them.

• With Lauren’s pitch set to host 18 female-only teams within the next five years, the event demonstrated the importance of great facilities within women and girls’ development pathways.

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THE LAUREN HEMP PITCH - MEDIA COVERAGE

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5 Pieces of broadcast/online/print coverage

178k Total reach

THE LAUREN HEMP PITCH - DIGITAL RESULTS

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Following the success of our posts with Millie Bright and noticing a strong performance on posts using photography we again, led with photographs on the day of the launch, organising with Lauren to collaborate with us on Instagram and post from her own channels. We also produced an event overview film and 11 questions with Lauren.

259k

427k

30k

Total X impressions (including partner Additional impressions from posts Likes on our content. Lauren also and media channels e.g. Lionesses, directly from Lionesses accounts. posted to her own account, earning an Sport England and BBC York) Lauren also posted from her own additional 13k likes account to an audience of 379k

Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.

THE LAUREN HEMP PITCH - SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

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A person taking a picture of a person and a child on a field AI-generated content may be incorrect.

THE LAUREN HEMP PITCH EVENT FILM

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A person pointing her fingers in front of a fence AI-generated content may be incorrect.

11 QUESTIONS WITH…

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THE LEAH WILLIAMSON PITCH OPENING • Our final pitch unveiling of the summer was with Lionesses Captain Leah Williamson, at Newport Pagnell Town FC, Milton Keynes on 12 August. Leah grew up near this grassroots club and as a young girl would train and run around the fields that became her pitch.

• The brand new 3G pitch was number seven of the 30 we’re naming in honour of the Lionesses, and its construction was made possible through the club receiving a Lionesses Futures Fund grant.

• Alongside speeches from Robert Sullivan, the club and the local Mayor, Leah cut the ribbon and laid the penalty spot on her new pitch.

• Leading women and girls’ football content creators She's a Baller, Alex Bailess and Ryhanna Parara captured and shared the event on their channels, helping us to reach new audiences.

• Paul Spooner from the Football Foundation grants panel and representation from DCMS were also present.

• The girls in attendance spoke of how they’ll now be able to play football in all kinds of weather and not have to travel to use other pitches, which means more time actually playing football, helping them one step closer to being the next Leah Williamson.

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THE LEAH WILLIAMSON PITCH - MEDIA COVERAGE

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23 Pieces of broadcast/online/print coverage

20.2m Total reach

THE LEAH WILLIAMSON PITCH - DIGITAL RESULTS

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Our key content from the event was posted in collaboration with both Leah, (who has over 1m followers on Instagram) and Lionesses’ accounts, extending our reach and getting our content in front of their respective audiences. This helped to make our social media post, the most liked of all time. We also produced an event overview and 11 questions film.

Content creators She's a Baller, Alex Bailess and Ryhanna Parara came to the event and published content from their own channels, pushing the Foundation's message even further.

565k

340k

52.9k

Total impressions across all channels

Views on videos posted by social media content creators invited to the event across Instagram and TikTok

Instagram likes on our unveiling post

Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.

THE LEAH WILLIAMSON PITCH - SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

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A group of women smiling AI-generated content may be incorrect.

THE LEAH WILLIAMSON PITCH EVENT FILM

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A mural of a person pointing at something AI-generated content may be incorrect.

11 QUESTIONS WITH…

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THE ELLEN WHITE PITCH OPENING • The next and eighth pitch to unveil was in the name of England Women’s all-time top goal scorer – Ellen White at Glossop North End Community Club, on 28 September.

• Ellen wasn’t just cutting the ribbon on a brand new 3G pitch, but also a state-of-the-art two team changing pavilion, and led the girls of Glossop North End on to the pitch for that Saturday’s match.

• Not only were the players excited for the new pitch to play on in all weather, but the changing pavilion that will allow them to play football in a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment – the kind of facilities that Ellen hopes her young daughter will grow up to play on.

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THE ELLEN WHITE PITCH – MEDIA COVERAGE

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• Local paper attended the event to take pictures for feature on the pitch.

THE ELLEN WHITE PITCH – DIGITAL RESULTS

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The Ellen White Pitch unveiling was the first of a new approach we took with our content. Trends within social media are dominated by mobile-first content and this was the first event we covered using entirely mobile footage.

We utilised photography from the event, a video showcasing the unveiling and captured the popular 11 Questions feature with Ellen while collaborating with the Lionesses account and Ellen on Instagram to further our reach.

150k

13.4k

3

Total social media impressions

Likes on our content across our channels

Collaboration posts with Ellen White and the Lionesses

Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.

THE ELLEN WHITE PITCH – SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

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THE ELLEN WHITE PITCH EVENT FILM A person standing on a field AI-generated content may be incorrect.

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11 QUESTIONS WITH…

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THE NIAMH CHARLES PITCH OPENING • The final pitch unveiling of 2024 and our ninth overall was The Niamh Charles Pitch at Bidston Sport and Activity Centre in the Wirral, on 19 December.

• Alongside the new full size floodlit 3G pitch, the site also now boasts freshly refurbished changing rooms and an extended car park. The new facilities will become home to two local grassroots clubs - Poulton Victoria FC and Oxton Ladies.

• Chelsea and England star Niamh was delighted to open a pitch near where her football journey started, that will provide opportunities to play for countless local girls looking to follow in her footsteps. The project will be hosting Wildcats sessions aimed at introducing girls to football for the first time as well as low-cost sessions for 10–13-year-olds.

• The local Labour MP for Birkenhead, Alison McGovern, attended to witness the impact Football Foundation funding is having in her constituency.

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HEADER

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THE NIAMH CHARLES PITCH – MEDIA COVERAGE • Journalists from three local papers attended the event to write features on the pitch.

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THE NIAMH CHARLES PITCH – DIGITAL RESULTS

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The Niamh Charles Pitch unveiling was our second mobile-first content capture following the success of The Ellen White Pitch unveiling. We produced a film of the event and 11 questions with Niamh whilst also capturing content with the England Lioness ahead of International Women’s Day 2025. Additionally, we posted live content at the event, with six Instagram video stories being posted as it happened to bring people closer to the event.

We collaborated on Instagram with Niamh, the Lionesses, England Football and Chelsea Women FC – the first time we have secured a club account collaboration which further maximised our reach. Niamh also posted directly to her own channels to an audience of 200k.

35.8k

519k

6

Likes across our content

Total impressions across all channels

Instagram story posts published 'as it happened' during the event

Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.

THE NIAMH CHARLES PITCH – SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

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THE NIAMH CHARLES PITCH EVENT FILM

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11 QUESTIONS WITH…

51 A person in a black coat AI-generated content may be incorrect.

LIONESSES FUTURES FUND Launched in November 2023, the Lionesses Futures Fund is a £30 million cash injection to celebrate the Lionesses success at EUROs and World Cup.

The Fund supports the development of 35 new 3G pitches and facilities across England, designed to prioritise women’s and girls’ football teams.​ Those receiving the fund demonstrated that their site is set to deliver a best-in-class experience for women and girls: ​ • Women and girls’ opportunities – gold standard usage programme for the whole community • Women and girls’ priority access – secure, protected access and at times people want to play​ • Women and girls’ friendly facilities – providing safe and welcoming facilities, both on and off the pitch​ On 12 August 2024 we celebrated the first 14 sites to be awarded the Lionesses Futures Fund grants - from Oldham to the New Forest and Suffolk to Somerset.

On the 24 March 2025, marking 100 days until the 2025 UEFA Women’s EURO, we announced the remaining Lionesses Futures Fund sites.

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KELLY SIMMONS INDEPENDENT REVIEW Following the unprecedented growth in the grassroots game, the Football Foundation asked Kelly Simmons OBE to undertake an independent review of its investment and work in the women and girls’ game.

Kelly Simmons’ review was published in September 2024 and made several recommendations that will ensure the Foundation is able to keep with the pace of the game, turbo charging accessible facilities and prioritising access for women and girls.

The Foundation has committed to implementing these recommendations in full, which include: • Require every large-scale project it funds to guarantee a share of priority slots to women’s and girls’ teams.

• Set up a new small grants programme, specifically targeted at creating female-friendly facilities off the pitch, including changing rooms and toilets.

• Ensure its refreshed Local Football Facility Plans reflect the growth in women’s and girls’ football, with a new Plan for every local authority in England to be published by June 2025.

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KELLY SIMMONS INDEPENDENT REVIEW – MEDIA & DIGITAL COVERAGE

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• Morning of broadcast interviews with Kelly and Robert Sullivan across regional and national broadcast demonstrating how the Foundation will prioritise women’s and girls’ football.

• Review published on Foundation website and digital campaign across social channels.

• Kelly Simmons soundbite from Multi-Sport film.

• Re-share of Jill Scott Here To Play Film.

• Social cut of B-roll.

• Case Studies on women and girls.

14.8m

10

Media reach

Media interviews

GET YOUR PITCH MATCH FIT Our grass pitch campaign runs throughout the year, with November to March the key time for PitchPower inspections.

Campaign aim is to drive behaviour change in the grassroots football community through the sharing of funding success, knowledge of pitch maintenance and celebration of pitch quality.

Season highlights: • Ran a signed football competition to encourage inspection submissions in November, resulting in double the number than last year.

• Busiest ever inspection window, hitting a milestone of 15,000 reports since launch in 2020.

• Captured content of sites who have used PitchPower and have benefitted from Grass Pitch Maintenance Funding.

• Targeted emails to grass pitch sites to encourage them to use PitchPower and apply for funding.

• Shared targeted press releases and success stories to local and regional media.

• Created a volunteer groundskeeper webpage to highlight the different roles and shared content with volunteer groundskeepers from sites we’ve funded featuring Football Foundation Supporter John Ledwidge on our channels.

• Produced a film with a Groundsman from Hampshire FA, highlighting importance of groundskeeping and using the PitchPower app.

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A person sitting on a chair in front of a goal AI-generated content may be incorrect.

BENEFITS OF GROUNDSKEEPING FILM

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GET YOUR PITCH MATCH FIT – DIGITAL RESULTS

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We increased posts driving people towards PitchPower and Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund. We also used key dates such as Volunteers Day and GroundsWeek to further drive engagement, whilst working with our Supporters Karl Standley and John Ledwidge to drive our messaging to new audiences.

232k

29k

38k

Reach on social media

Visitors to our campaign webpage

Total views on campaign webpage

Reach is the number of unique users seeing this content.

GET YOUR PITCH MATCH FIT – MEDIA COVERAGE Our impact stories and the campaign as a whole were picked up by local and trade outlets.

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FOOTBALL FOUNDATION GROUNDSKEEPING COMMUNITY The Groundskeeping Community is a platform we provide for groundskeepers to come together for peer-to-peer support and free expert advice from us and the Grounds Management Association.

Season highlights: • Community grown by 9%, becoming a space to learn and communicate for 4,183 members.

• Monthly average users were 276, and October busiest month with 374 active on the platform.

• Resources viewed over 71,000 times. ‘Dealing with Snow and Ice (Frost)’, ‘November top tips’ and 'PitchPower and Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund' most viewed resources.

• Over 400 posts and comments shared across the community. Most common themes were Machinery and Equipment, Pitch Maintenance and Improvement, Funding and Grants.

• In summer 2025 we’ll be transitioning away from the current Groundskeeping Community structure and moving to a Facebook group.

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LET’S GO 2025!

Kicked off 2025 highlighting all the support we offer for sports clubs and organisations across the country and ease of applying for funding.

What we did: • Shined a spotlight on our Let’s Go campaign film to showcase our grants and highlight campaigns.

• Wrote to every MP in England with their Local Football Facility Plan and our funding page, encouraging them to share on their social channels.

• Targeted underrepresented groups with a successful paid social campaign.

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LET’S GO 2025! – DIGITAL RESULTS

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Raised awareness of funding and drove users to our funding page through use of still graphics and video, backed up with a targeted paid social campaign to engage priority areas and drive further traffic.

110k

202k

+124%

Organic Reach

Paid Social reach on Meta

In clicks to the website compared to 2024 campaign

Reach is the number of unique users seeing this content.

THE HUDDLE – CATERING UNIT GRANT • The Huddle is a new grant allowing grassroots organisations to install a Catering Unit at their site to generate income, improve the experience for players and spectators and operate their facilities more sustainably.

• Launched the fund in May 2025, with a dedicated funding page, FAQs and social media posts.

• Produced a variety of carousel graphics for our social channels using bold illustration and fun captions, bringing together football and food to promote the fund.

• Press release sent to trade press promoting new fund.

• As the Huddle’s are awarded and rolled out, we’ll tell the stories of the impact.

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THE FUTURE OF 3G PITCHES 3G Pitches are essential to the grassroots football community, but there’s questions around the impact they have on the environment. We’re leading the charge in trying to find an alternative solution so we can continue our work of delivering outstanding grassroots facilities.

This campaign covers our three workstreams: The Football Foundation is leading the way in finding sustainable solutions •

Sheffield Test Hub – researching a potential alternative solution to 3G rubber crumb.

• Campaign film launched featuring Robert Sullivan and highlighting both the positive impact of 3G pitches and our work to find the most environmentally sustainable solution.

• Article reporting on Hub in Sunday Times.

Supporting clubs with our Pitch Replacement Programme •

Communications to clubs for Pitch Replacement Programme, providing them with guidance on increasing funds to support possible changes to infill in the future.

Experts in maintaining your 3G pitch •

Providing guidance to sites on how to maintain their 3G pitches well, including though our 3G tips graphics.

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Aerial view of a sports field AI-generated content may be incorrect.

THE FUTURE OF 3G PITCHES CAMPAIGN FILM

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3. MILESTONE EVENTS

CONCORD YOUTH CENTRE PLAYZONE OPENING Following success of collaboration with EA SPORTS on the Rocky & Wrighty Arena, we partnered with them on a new Football Foundation PlayZone at the Concord Youth Centre in Birmingham in September 2024.

The site received a grant worth £169k and hosts sessions for football and basketball as well as dance, Zumba and girls-only football sessions.

What we did at the opening: • Invited Birmingham City Football Club men’s first team captain Krystian Bielik and his teammate Brandon Singh Khela, Women’s Team player and content creator Siobhan Wilson and Football Foundation Supporter Dion Dublin.

• Aston Villa Foundation ran football skills sessions and a tournament, and Basketball England hosted basketball skills sessions.

• Collaborated with funding partners on content so the campaign reached their audiences too.

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A child playing football with a ball AI-generated content may be incorrect.

CONCORDE YOUTH CENTRE PLAYZONE DION DUBLIN FILM

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CONCORD YOUTH CENTRE PLAYZONE - MEDIA COVERAGE • Dion Dublin took part in a live pitch side interview with national radio channel talkSPORT. • Dion talked to the show’s c.500k listeners about what a Football Foundation PlayZone is, how EA SPORTS are involved and the impact this facility will have on the community.

“For these kids to have a better start in life and have a facility like this is great. There’s a hardcourt here with all the markings for basketball and football. It’s perfect and it’s safe so the community are very appreciative.”

Dion Dublin

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CONCORD YOUTH CENTRE PLAYZONE - DIGITAL RESULTS

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Concord PlayZone launch was an opportunity to showcase the facility features and impact it will make in the local area.

Embedded in central Birmingham, we leaned into an urban stylistic approach to our content.

We created an exciting and expressive event overview film and utilised our time with Dion Dublin to showcase the very best elements of the PlayZone, with a fun and quirky walkaround of the Concord Centre in the style of Homes Under the Hammer.

730k

75.9m

185k

16.6k

Total impressions across our social media channels and our partner posts (Premier League, Premier League Communities)

Reach through partner posts from Premier League, Premier League Communities and EA Sports FC

Reach through content creators posts

Likes across our channels (Instagram, X, Facebook and LinkedIn)

Reach is the number of unique users seeing this content. Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.

KING GEORGE V HUB PORTSMOUTH OPENING In October we opened a brand-new site as part of our Hubs Programme, the King George V Football Complex in Portsmouth.

The site received a grant of £4.4 million towards the creation of a Hub featuring two 3G pitches, five grass pitches and a pavilion.

What we did at the opening: • Key stakeholders attended including local MP Amanda Martin.

The Football Foundation Grants Panel joined the opening, so they were able to explore the facilities and take part in the event.

• Focused on the sustainability of the site including recycled benches and LED floodlights in event overview video.

• Filmed content for our channels for our Get Your Pitch Match Fit campaign and GroundsWeek with the Head of facilities operations at Hampshire FA, talking about why he loves groundskeeping and how useful PitchPower has been to him.

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YOUNG ADULT CENTRE EALING PLAYZONE In January we opened a Football Foundation PlayZone at the Young Adult Centre in Southall, Ealing.

We funded the PlayZone with a grant of £208.3k. Extensive community engagement was central to the project, with the young people who use the centre being at the heart of this.

What we did at the opening: • Key stakeholders attended including local Councillors.

• Captured content focusing on community engagement, speaking to Councillors, local partners including Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, and young people who had input on the project.

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THE ROCKY AND WRIGHTY ARENA • In May we returned to the Rocky and Wrighty Arena at Turnham Academy in South-East London, to capture a ‘day in the life’ of the facility two years after it officially opened.

• We captured content with the wide array of groups who used the arena throughout the day: • Turnham Academy students • Drumbeat SEND students • Millwall Community Trust • Girls United • Hillyfielders FC • The resulting film showed the huge impact one facility can make on the local community.

• The film was shared on our channels and we also collaborated on our Instagram post with Ian Wright and England Football

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A child kicking a football ball on a field AI-generated content may be incorrect.

THE ROCKY AND WRIGHTY ARENA EVENT FILM

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4. MEDIA COVERAGE

FOOTBALL FOUNDATION MEDIA REACH

75

1.4bn

1,400

139

99%

Media reach (+385% on last year)

Media articles (+19% on last year)

Pieces of broadcast coverage (+12% on last year)

Positive sentiment (equal to last year)

Increase due to significant national

Higher concentration of coverage

Substantial proportion of coverage

Coverage continued to be

coverage of The Lionesses Futures

came from national outlets due to

continues to come from local radio

overwhelmingly positive. Even in

Fund, More Than a Game Campaign,

mentioned campaigns.

stations reporting on grassroots and

articles on issues facing local

non-league clubs we’ve supported.

councils or grassroots clubs,

Non-League Day and announcement of FY26 funding.

mentions of the Foundation’s involvement weren’t negative.

NATIONAL MEDIA SNAPSHOT

REGIONAL MEDIA SNAPSHOT

SPORT, TRADE AND THIRD SECTOR MEDIA SNAPSHOT

5. DIGITAL RESULTS

FOOTBALL FOUNDATION SOCIAL MEDIA RESULTS

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We reached over 6.7m people on our social channels, a huge increase on previous years. This success was made possible by collaborating with the accounts of our funding partners, football clubs including Chelsea Women and Manchester United, and supporters and influential figures including Mary Earps, Ian Wright, Leah Williamson, Millie Bright and Karl Standley.

We’ve also supported funding partners’ and wider stakeholders’ posts by engaging with their content, from the Premier League’s More Than A Game campaign and The FA’s Grassroots Football Awards to The GMA’s GroundsWeek.

6.7m

5k+

40

Reach across our social media channels

New fans and followers across all accounts

Collabs with other accounts

Reach is the number of unique users seeing this content.

SNAPSHOT OF FOOTBALL FOUNDATION CONTENT AMPLIFIED BY FUNDING PARTNERS

81

SOCIAL POSTS IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER ACCOUNTS Collaboration posts with other accounts formed a strong part of our strategy to maximise reach and engagement. These figures include all collaboration posts during FY25 on Instagram including funding partners. This contributed to:

41

5.3m

8.1m

Total Collaborations

Reach

Views

Reach is the number of unique users seeing this content.

82

KEEPING UP WITH THE NEWS AGENDA ON SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

83

FOOTBALL FOUNDATION WEBSITE ENGAGEMENT

84

We’ve seen strong digital growth in FY25, marking a significant boost in our online engagement.

836k

275k

5m

Overall page views to the website (15% + YoY)

Active users on our website (14% + YoY)

Total impressions (280% + YoY)

Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.

WE LAUNCHED A NEW WEBSITE IN FEBRUARY 2025

+20% +48% +17% Active users YoY

Impressions YoY

Clicks YoY

Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.

85

6. UNLOCKING PARTNERSHIPS

PUBLIC AFFAIRS ENGAGEMENT • Continued our From the Roots Up public affairs engagement campaign, producing a refreshed assets to present the impact of grassroots sport on key policy areas.

• Delivered a targeted campaign to introduce the Football Foundation to the newly elected MPs and to deepen relationships with members of the new Government alongside our list of key MPs. • Wrote 130 letters to MPs, including key ministers as well as the local MP of every Lionesses Futures Fund project and Lioness Pitch.

• Engaged proactively with the Government on planning policy reforms, sending a joint letter to the Environment Secretary on behalf of our funding partners and NGBs regarding Biodiversity Net Gain.

• Responded to Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s inquiry on community sport through providing written and oral evidence as well as by hosting almost all the Committee’s members at Foundation-funded facilities in their constituencies.

• Responded to request from DEFRA for information to contribute to research paper on the environmental impact of microplastics, ensuring the initial findings recognised the benefits of 3G pitches and factored in the mitigation measures we’ve put in place.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS ENGAGEMENT

88

543

50

130

10

296

MPs emailed

Meetings with MPs

Personalised letters to MPs

Personalised letters to Councillors and Metro Mayors

Local Authorities emailed

FROM THE ROOTS UP CAMPAIGN ASSETS

89

FROM THE ROOTS UP DIGITAL CAMPAIGN ASSETS

90

MP SITE VISITS

91

• Hosted 52 site visits across England to show MPs the impact of our investment and gain their support with delivering further projects, including: • Spade in the ground visit with Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock to 3G pitch development at Parkside in her constituency.

• Visits with several members of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee including Tom Rutland, Jo Platt and James Frith.

• Follow-up visits from last year’s drop-in session with Rachel Hopkins, Mims Davies and Liz Twist.

James Frith MP at Ramsbottom United JFC

Mims Davies MP at Uckfield College

Sports Minister at Parkside

Tom Rutland MP at Worthing FC

GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL DROP-IN SESSIONS • Held two drop-in sessions, where over 150 MPs had the opportunity to speak to their Delivery Manager and learn about the Foundation’s past and future investment in their constituencies.

• Invited representatives of Foundation-funded sites to the second drop-in session, so that MPs could learn about the impact of our investment first-hand.

• Sent personalised letters to every MP who attended or signed up to these events, inviting them to visit a Foundation-funded facility in their constituency.

Kim Leadbeater MP (Principle Private Secretary for DCMS)

Stephanie Peacock MP (Sports Minister)

92

GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL DROP-IN SESSIONS IN NUMBERS

93

150

30

220

34

2

MPs attended

MPs social posts

Post-event letters sent

Post-event meetings in the diary

Former Premier League players

SNAPSHOT OF MP ENGAGEMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

94

7. SUPPORTERS

SUPPORTERTO ACTIVITY CLICK EDIT MASTER TITLE STYLE • Karl Standley Head of Grounds and Surface Transitions at Wembley Stadium, filmed an 11 Questions video with us, which we released to celebrate GroundsWeek.

• John Ledwidge, Head of Grounds at Manchester City FC supported our Get Your Pitch Match Fit and Volunteer campaigns.

• Building relationships with Lionesses as part of the Lioness Pitches HERe to Play campaign including Niamh Charles and Leah Williamson.

• We welcomed Lioness and Chelsea captain Millie Bright as a new Supporter.

• Dion Dublin attended the opening of the Concord PlayZone in Birmingham and filmed content with us.

• Graeme Le Saux and Stuart Pearce attended our MP drop-in session and discussed the importance of grassroots football with MPs.

CLICK TO EDIT MASTER TITLE STYLE

MILLIE BRIGHT SUPPORTER ANNOUNCEMENT • Announced Millie Bright as our newest Football Foundation Supporter on 28 March, following our Lionesses Futures Fund announcement marking 100 days to go until UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 .

• Captured content with Millie at Cobham FC (who have received Football Foundation funding), where she read letters from girls who have played on The Millie Bright Pitch describing why they were proud of her for becoming a Supporter.

• Shared videos showing Millie reflecting on the importance of grassroots football and why she is proud to be a Football Foundation Supporter.

97

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CLICK TO EDIT MASTER TITLE STYLE MILLIE BRIGHT SUPPORTER VIDEO

98

MILLIE BRIGHT SUPPORTER ANNOUNCEMENT – MEDIA COVERAGE • The Guardian’s Suzy Wrack joined us on the day of the announcement to interview Millie, and published an article in the paper.

• We also sent a press release to trade, national sports and regional media.

99

CLICK TO EDIT MASTER TITLE STYLE

MILLIE BRIGHT SUPPORTER ANNOUNCEMENT – DIGITAL RESULTS

100

We shared short teaser videos to build suspense around the announcement, as well as graphics on the day, approaching it in the style elite clubs announce new signings.

106k

20k

7.5k

Total impressions across all channels

Video views

Likes across our content

Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.

LOOKING TO FY26 We’re looking to build on the successes of FY25 and continue driving attribution to funding partners, unlocking partnerships, supporting the grassroots football community and securing the next tranche of additional government funding.

Here’s what we’ll be up to: • Celebrate our 25th anniversary and launching our new strategy.

• Introduce our new impact and support approach with more applicant comms and guidance to ensure our investments are sustainable long term.

• Lead on the Sport England Containment campaign and monitor comms around testing alternative pitch systems.

• Continue engaging with MPs and the Government to demonstrate the impact of our funding partner investment on local communities.

• Unveil more Lionesses pitches and supporting the Lionesses as they look to defend their Women’s EUROs trophy.

• Raise awareness of new sites, including the Sunderland PlayZone in collaboration with EA SPORTS. • Work with funding partners on collecting content at player media days to support us with our digital strategy.

We look forward to continuing to work with funding partner Public Affairs, Marketing and Communications teams to increase the awareness and understanding of their investment into the Foundation and the impact of its work.

101