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State of the Game debate
We want your views as Sky Sports News investigates the problem of participation in grassroots football.
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We want your views as Sky Sports News investigates the problem of participation in grassroots football.
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Comments
Malik Bourbia (Arsenal fan) says...
Does Barwick expect me to avoid A-Levels and earning so I can play for Sunday League teams who are going nowhere?
Posted 18:48 28th April 2008
Mark Vincent (Liverpool fan) says...
it is a joke to see the state of our grassroot football in this country , there is so much money in the premiership but none of it is seen outside of this overpaid league. You would of thought these clubs would of financed some of the lesser clubs to breed talent in this country and in return pass this on to the conference leagues and so on . i recently run an under 16 side but once they finish this age group there is no other football to play in as they are in the main not ready to be kicked around by men twice thier age. surely again something can be done by encouraging these youngsters into grassroots with well organised clubs and coaches with local reserve leagues. invest in the kids !!!!!
Posted 18:46 28th April 2008
Mark Robinson says...
I think the state of some pitches around the country is shocking and the FA needs to throw more money at improving facilities. I have played on pitches which are hard to run on the grass is that long. I think young kids should play five-a-side at a young age as the game should be about developing skills and technique at that age and then as they get older should be introduced to seven and then eleven-a-side.
Posted 18:29 28th April 2008
Matt Lawn (Crystal Palace fan) says...
I think one of the main problems is the pitches and it is why English players are behind technically. You can't play decent passing football on the pitches because they are all cut up and the grass is too long, which also makes running with the ball difficult. South London has loads of astroturf and 5-a-side facilities and Palace have had 8 youth team players come through this season that are all better technically than any of the others. And for a national example, look at the incredible rise of Turkish football since the early 90's, where astroturf pitches are everywhere. More flat full-size pitches is the answer, synthetic or real
Posted 18:26 28th April 2008
Liam Banks (Wolverhampton Wanderers fan) says...
I have played youth football since i was 8 (i am now 15)that is until i discovered rugby union.With footy i played and played all the time 11 a side match almost every week with all of my mates and every week it was the same compltly biased referees that are not properly trained and really bad pitches,on one i remember it being tht steep u cudnt see one goal from the other! but still i kept playing and every match we were sworn at and stamped on.now i play rugby union and the contrast is immense since i started playing there has been no foul play or abuse it has been plain sport and it is great.I just wich footy were the same cause then it would be absolutly awesome.The old saying is completley right : rugby is a thugs game played by gentleman,football is a gentlemans game played by thugs.The fa are to blame and they should all be sacked!
Posted 18:13 28th April 2008
Christopher Burns (Rangers fan) says...
How can we expect young footballers to have the chance to use and develop the talent they have when we are getting rid of facilities. For example in my area , a massive new school was built on top of 7 11 a side football pitches! Yes there is sport facilities within this school but you have to pay to use these, young kids cannot just go over and have a kick around. It is ridiculous.
Posted 18:08 28th April 2008
Leebert Jollie (Manchester United fan) says...
Are you suprised at falling levels of young players? Just look at the awful facilities and lack of pitches in the UK. So much money in the game yet the governing authorities do nothing to improve pitches and facilities. I left school 30years ago and Clapham Common facilities are still in the 1920s. Sad to say until we get 21st century facilities and pay more attention to grassroots football we will not be able to compete at any level. The administrators at the FA must get out from behind the desks and see what conditions kids and young men have to play in. Dog Faeces, needles, condoms, debris all on playing surfaces. We need an FA that is accountable to the thousands who play the game. Until they address this problem we will fall further and further behind.
Posted 17:17 28th April 2008
Paul Smith (Liverpool fan) says...
Things will get worse as more and more leagues struggle to get referees - why would anyone want to go out and get abused by both players and supporters - I still play Vets football - 99% of the time the players help the referee by being honest - anyone who has a go at the ref gets a good telling off from his own players - no ref no game!!! - I watch rugby from all levels and right across the board the ref is in charge - good natured banter from the touchline and a drink and chat in the bar between both opposition players and supporters - no wonder more kids are turning to rugby for their recreation.
Posted 16:42 28th April 2008
Gary Agar says...
I work for a local semi pro clubs community project...we are lucky that he local council,the football trust and various others have funded a state of the art football facility where we run the football related courses as well as other events etc....it featured on sky sports news a few weeks ago....we are having an official opening...and guess how many FA officials are coming to promote it...yep..not one..they bang on about this grass roots stuff for good PR and yet can't be bothered to support the hard work that goes on...we contacted pro clubs,womans pro clubs etc to send someone to work with the kids ..not a single response...we need more doing and less talking...people are drifitng away because they see that despite all the talk,the people at the top of the game don't really care as long as they have the precious money the prem league brings in..sure some filters down but in the grand scheme of things more filters upwards lining a few pockets....its disgraceful
Posted 16:04 28th April 2008
Malcolm Charnock (Colchester United fan) says...
There is no one single problem. Certainly the local council pitches are awful. Grass is too long and generally have holes and divets. Dog mess and glass can sometimes be found on the pitch too. The other problem is coaching for youth teams. Mini-soccer and the new 9-a-side format is designed to encourage passing and nurture skills yet coaches still employ "up and at them" and long ball tactics. The teams who play the best football have the best chance of keeping the boys together and keep them interested. A possible solution for mini soccer and youth football would be to disallow a pass from the defensive third directly to the final third. A pass that cuts out the central area results in a free-kick to the opposing team. Coaches would have no choice but to encourage their team to pass and use the full width of the pitch.
Posted 15:14 28th April 2008
Allan Fillery says...
11 a-side football is failing because there is zero protection when playing. all game you get kicked, butted, and abused and the referee does nothing through fear of his own safety. why would anyone want to play 11 a-side and put up with that. If there was protection for the players and the referee, we'd see more people participating. Until, the debate will continue Allan Maidstone
Posted 14:51 28th April 2008
Harpal Singh says...
I think that players feel more protected playing at these soccer centers rather then kicked about all over the football field in a sunday league. maybe we should think about centres with the capabilites of hosting 11 a side games also?
Posted 14:49 28th April 2008
Antony Woods says...
Regards to the lack of participation and declining numbers of kids taking part in football i have not yet heard anyone on skysports news mention about the number of foreign players in the premiership and lower leagues. I chose to play rugby league as a kid and that was because i felt i had a better chance of making it as a profesional than in football. There is not a good enough link between sunday league football and schools of excellence and other scholorship schemes. Not enough english talent is being produced and that is demotivating are youngsters. Take the fa youth cup final between man city and chelsea, there should of been more english talent on show and my opinion is that they should all of been english.
Posted 14:49 28th April 2008
Robert Pierce says...
I've been playing football at amateur level since i was 9- im now 17. The state of the pitches in my local area are terrible. I play for a side in the Lancashire Amateur League and before christmas we were told by the council that we had to play all of our home games some 20 minutes away from our home pitch because the changing rooms had been vandalised and the council had to 'save money' and wait until the next financial year so that they couild have the changing rooms replaced. I thought that this was atrocious and that the council- who moan about the levels of obesity in the town- were contradicting themselves by making our team play at a different venue. We pay a lot of money to play on the sub standard pitches which are allocated to us each season, and have recently been told that the price of the pitches will rise again next season. What should be an enjoyable 90 minutes is now a very expensive 90 minutes where some players do not enjoy the game becuase of the mud baths whioch we are forced to play in week in week out.
Posted 14:31 28th April 2008
Garry Mobey (Liverpool fan) says...
My friend and I run an U12's football team. We train twice a week, in the winter it costs us £64.00 per week as we have to train indoors in a local school hall. It cost £24.00 per hour last year but they no longer have concessions for juniors.
Posted 14:14 28th April 2008
Dave Leach (Chelsea fan) says...
The problem with grass roots is easy, our "win at all costs" culture and Parents!!. I've been coaching kids for 8 years and it never ceases to amaze me how parents simply want to win at all costs and miss the point about developing the kids techique, oh and that is when the parents are not doing their impressions of Mike Tyson and fighting each other!! Small sided, tight spaces, lots of touches on the ball is the way to develop technique and move forward. We live in the dark ages and need to come out of it very quickly, kids should not play competitive footbal until they are 14+, it should all be about technique up until then.!!
Posted 14:05 28th April 2008
J T (Huddersfield Town fan) says...
I can see why the F.A dont want to improve the state of facilities as it would be a complete waste of money. Within days new changing rooms rould be vandalised with graffiti and most likely broken into. Pitches would be littered with rubbish for example the one I train on where we found dog muck and syringes at pre season training this year. I can only speak for the area I live but if the rest of the country is in a similar state then whats the point in wasting money. People get what they deserve and if the treat their facilities this way then they dont deserve to have them at all.
Posted 13:40 28th April 2008
Joel Baldry says...
I am nineteen and i can not play eleven a side football in my local area because all of the fields are fenced off, they do this to protect the land but it means we can not play football on the pitches. I am forced to play five a side football on a friday at my local liesure center, we get a twenty minute game and have to pay quite a bit for that. If we want to play football on the all weather pitches we have to pay for it. we are forced to do this because there are no fields, how is the game supposed to develop properly if time and space is restricted, especially peopl like myself who are at senior level and cant play youth football?!?! The FA should remember football is for everyone not just the professionals
Posted 13:35 28th April 2008
James Burns says...
I tend to disagree with people saying "11vs11" is dropping - in the league that I play in it is most certainly growing. I manage an under 16's team and I have been inundated with applications for people to play for the team. Every season for the last 3 the league has grown by at least one team each summer, so I can't see what the problem is. Playing 5-a-side on a Wednesday at Goals is great - its the only football I play now because I watch Crystal Palace and manage a Sunday League team - but if I could get back to playing 11 -a-side then I would snap at the opportunity.
Posted 13:35 28th April 2008
Matthew Palmer says...
16-25yr olds are not the issue, if you are good enough, you will likely have signed for a club well before then. The key is that younger kids need to play more small-pitch games up to the age of 12/13 than they do. I see small kids playing on pitches far too big for them, and as a result the kids that are bigger and stronger for their age do better and get noticed, and those that are technically gifted, but less physically developed, get ignored - the end result is a more physical and less technical adult and professional game. I believe this is the bigger issue. The 5-a-side game is accessible and more popular because it fits more neatly around personal demands on time. But, I doubt there are loads of playerss playing 5-a-side that would have been Englnd regulars had they still been playing 11-a-side at 15 or 16, the problem is that age 6 to 10, they were being trained sub-optimally.
Posted 13:31 28th April 2008
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