FA Review of Grassroots 11-a - side
Gents,
makes interesting reading-
http://www.thefa.com/GetIntoFootball...refresh-011211
So there is a decline in the male 11 a side game. That is of no surprise to me. We are at a stage where football is more available to more people than ever before. kids are able to play for a team from 7-8 years old and get all the fun coached out of them. They are not allowed to play adult football until they are 16 and then they are still classed as children till 18. By this stage they can play any night of the week on astro turf 5-7 a side leagues. Then they can't play at a standard they want because the fa have decided that park football can't exist as you need to have facilities that cost the earth to achieve and maintain. So their local club can't progress to a level their players warrant. Result being that the clubs at senior men's level suffers and you no longer have youngsters coming through and maintaining the adult game.
The fa seem very proud of the fact that there as more women and disabled players than ever before, which is to be commended, but in order to improve the national game it surely makes more sense to develope the able bodied male game.
Our league is struggling to meet the national criteria for step 7 and is danger of losing funding and sides through this. Will that help improve the adult game..? I doubt it
Very well put Alex
There are a lot of young players with ability who just not come into the local men's football. I don't know if its that they are just fed up training and playing all year round from six to 16 (it seems some teams do not even have a summer break) or they go off to college or take Saturday jobs. But there are a lot less Peterborough teams playing now than 12 years ago
It doesn't help that thy don't play 11 a side now until quite late.
Very well put Mr Brown and agree 100%.
the £200 million pounds they have promised mite help if they get out of london and help the game allways seems there 1st?????
Agree with all that has been said but just want to add that it is also down to players attitudes! I know of one player who would rather talk about how many goals he gets at powerleague rather than commit at a decent level of saturday football where he finds it harder and so can't be bothered - ego boosting!
For me, it has and always will be about Saturday football as that is where a player will be judged by his peers and everyone else, not mickey mouse footie such as sundays, powerleague, futsal etc...
Last edited by Number 5; 02-12-2011 at 18:14.
Foggy thats not very nice, 5 a side is a technically harder game and for those that might not be so good at 11's may be better at 5's their peers that you speak of may well prefer short sided football. I think the point here is there shoud be more of an emphasis on mens football which should be at a constant or improving like every thing else has instead of a decline.
The small sided game needs to improved for the younger generations, as it is there that they can enjoy and express themselves. They shouldn't be playing 11-a-side until their mid teens.
Mid-teens would be 15-16. I think that is leaving it a bit late. Not only for the soccer education but the problem would also be that not enough players would be getting time on the pitch too. 12-13 would be better but who really knows as things have changed so much for the teenager of today. Sorry Harbs I have to agree with Foggy and also bad attitudes come a lot from from small sided games where the officiating is not always as it should be.
Harbs, don't see the 5 a side world cup on T.V? It is not harsh but a realisitic view, please don't tell me the powerleague is more technical than Men's footy!. If you are good enough you will succeed at 11 a side as many players are doing so.
Last edited by Number 5; 02-12-2011 at 18:16.
Beach football is the most technical game lol by a million miles
Tell all the tims ye no Rangers are gonna get 4 in a row!!! Bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy lalalalalala
I just cant imagine that the numbers are dwindleing because of attitudes brought on from 5 a side i think thats a load of cobblers.
Im sure there are players that only play 5's that could play mens football in the same way there could be lads playing 11's that would probably be better suited to 5's.
just because its not a world cup event doesnt make it any less important to the people that enjoy playing it.
Dont get me wrong id rather play 11s all day long but your argument here is people like to be big fish in little ponds with the 5 a side scoring loads of goals rather than play a decent level at 11 a side, but what should it matter to that person when all they are really interested in is enjoying what thet do as not everyone cares about the polotics behind football.
My take, for what its worth is that for too long the F.A. has concerned itself with the top end of the pond, and so us "bottom feeders" have been more or less left to get on with it - They have now come to realise, probably too late, that its us bottom feeders that keep the whole thing going - £200m sounds a lot but by the time its divvied out I dont believe its going to scratch the surfaceof the problem - In order to change anything they have to look at the youngsters, its too late for our generation, and with all that is available to the kids it needs a radical overhaul to get them back interested. That overhaul has to include our education system, Christ we have a generation of kids, who because of the government at the time,were taught that team sports werent good for them, is it any wonder that they lost interest in the greatest team game in the world.
The decline in local football, certainly within the PDFL is attributable to a number of factors, the biggest of these for me, gauged by the decline in local industry as many of the best teams were works teams. I think the PDFL are doing a sterling job, under difficult circumstances, but that single factor will prevent them from ever obtaining the heights that the league previously was at, certainly with regard to the strength and quality of the sides who competed.
One final thought, I dont see any mention in the F.A. brefing about County F.A.'s - MY own personal "favourite" - whilst I understand its essential for amateur football to have order and administration, these organisations have clearly lost sight of what they are there to do and who they are there to serve - or is it me thats got that wrong ?
Certainly with regards to my own club I know we have been disadvantaged in the past by not playing within the county league, and year on year the main function of the County F.A.'s seems to be as a court, issuing and administering fines with increasing regularity, and with recent changes to the discipline system now making it virtually impossible to challenge them on these fines at all. Until the F.A. get to grips with that fundamental problem all the money in the world won't change the decline now being seen.
I love my football, and have tried to make sure my lads feel the same, increasingly however I wonder whether its worth it, attitudes have definately changed and the younger members of my club have a very different view on the world and on football in particular, thats a fact and won't now be changed by the F.A. anytime soon - which leaves the question of who comes along to run the clubs when me and my generation pop their clogs, dont see any cavalry on my horizon !
Purely my own view gents
I don't see any problem in starting 11 a side at under 10's with smaller pitches and goals up to the age of 14 where you progressed to a full size pitch. That's how it was for me and it was perfect.
I think the lack of work based clubs suck as Perkins, molins, hot point etc is a massive loss, as many school leavers would join such establishments as apprentices etc and get playing adult football through their employment. Added to that, I can only think of 3-4 clubs in Peterborough that have progression from junior football to adult football. As a 16-18 year old looking to get into adult football, where would you start? Luckily I joined the deeping youth set up late in my teens and progressed from there, and my old man was well connected to get me on my way. But without that I have no idea how I'd have been able to get involved. I also thing a lot of youngsters now haven't got the balls to make the step up, and they can't afford the fines that accompanies their stinking attitudes onto a football pitch.
A system that works extremely well in Liverpool is the old boys system, where a lot of schools have old boys societies that filter school leavers into open age football. The dedicated league to these societies has six divisions with circa 13/14 teams in each division. If Peterborough could have a similar set up with at least 4 schools it wOuld be a step in the right direction. The nice thing about it is that the schools also have facilities which mean that pitch rental etc is always a bit cheaper meaning that the teams can invest a bit more money into what is important. Google Liverpool old boys league to see what I am on about.
Last edited by Scouse Mouse; 03-12-2011 at 23:32.
Sorry, 5 divisions with 12 or so teams. If you are interested I used to play for old xaverians and started playing for them when I was 15, and a lot of my mates did. Good set ups and a great way to feed youngsters into open age football.
Last edited by Scouse Mouse; 03-12-2011 at 23:46.
When we went through The FA Participation Reports over a year ago, it was very clear that adult mens football was declining (just one of the many reasons we were anxious to fit as many new teams in as we could at the last AGM).Originally Posted by Scouse Mouse
However the decline in the 16 to 18 year old game is even more startling. As a result we sought and obtained sanction from The FA to run a 18 to 21 year division, with the exception of including one or two players either side of that age bracket. We saw this as one means of maintaining their interest anf hopefully moving them on to the adult game after a season ot two. Several teams who were interested usually had an older more experienced leader. We met with great opposition from the UCL and the P'Boro Youth League who perhaps saw this as impinging on their organisations. This opposition resulted in The FA making us keep strictly to the age group. Then there was not enough teams to go ahead. Result, even more young men not involved in football.
Thanks for the idea of a school old boy league, I will pursue and see if we can raise any enthusiasm in our area. Could be the players of the future.
These are personal views only and not necessarily those of the PDFL.
Norman Vasey
Surely Norman the under 18 football has not declined in this area over the years. In fact it is certainly a lot stronger now than say 10-12 years ago.
Not surprised the FA turned down the 18-21 years group for PDFL. At this age a lot of young players go off to college or have jobs working on Saturdays.
A lot of A teams and some reserves have under 18 players and that for a club is the way to go.
Not sure about the old boys either the only such team locally was perhaps Ortonians but that became just another club over the years (but a good one too).
Have to agree with the old sage from Whittlesey (must be nearly a first) a changing in young players' attitudes is not helping but the change in the league format again may help boost things and perhaps Norman you should see how this goes for a couple of seasons at least.\
By the way Norman still waiting to hear what happened to that surplus of referees!
Norman, the old boys league had teams with players of all age, not just youngsters. What I am suggesting is that teams are grown out of these old boys associations and filter into the Saturday leagues. When I played for my old club I was playing with guys who were 40 and 50. Maybe a look at how the veterans teams are put together could be a way forward. As I have said, my old club had 8 teams, but I am not sure what the old boys societies are like for schools in this area.
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