Football Unites Pilot Project
A player’s leadership and participation project
that ‘unlocks the potential’ of academy players to engage
positively in the community and make a meaningful difference.
Football Unites is a pilot project between September 2019 to September 2020 which engages over 40 football academy players from Premier League clubs in London to identify social challenges in their locality and co-design projects with community partners to tackle these.
April 2021
The Athletic – Writes About The Football Unites Project
March 2021
Football Unites deemed a succes following the pilot programme
We are delighted to share this short film with you, showing what academy players did with their community partners, and how it addressed their top concern of ‘youth violence, gangs and fear of crime’ in London.
Football Unites is a player-led community engagement programme, which enables academy players to identify social issues which are important to them and collaborate with a local community organisation to tackle their concerns.
During 2020 Player Voice engaged with Crystal Palace and West Ham United football clubs to test out the pilot Football Unites programme, with support from Arsenal Football Club and the Premier League as advisory partners.
Please download the Football Unites report here.
May 2020
‘Academy players from Crystal Palace F.C. and West Ham United F.C. say Youth Violence, Gangs and Crime is top issue for London in new ‘Football Unites’ report.
271 academy players voted on social issues of concern facing young people in London.
38% said that Youth Violence, Gangs/Crime is the top issue facing young people in London.
25% said Racism and other forms of discrimination/prejudice and 16% said Mental/Physical health and wellbeing.
Other top issues of concern included child and family poverty and safety of travel around London.
Following the ballot, academy players from each club attended a meeting with the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit to share their views on the challenges facing young Londoners at risk of getting involved in crime and potential solutions.
The young players will use the ballot results to inform social action projects they will deliver as part of ‘Football Unites’ pilot.
Please read the full report here.
The Launch
On 21st October 2019 the Football Unites Programme was officially launched at Selhurst Park Stadium, attended by over 120 people.
Click to watch our short film which gives a snapshot of the launch event and what some of the attendees said, including a message of support from Steve Parish, Chairman, Crystal Palace.
Click to visit our photo gallery.
The pilot is created and managed by Player Voice CIC in partnership with Crystal Palace FC and West Ham United, with advisory support from Arsenal FC and the Premier League.
‘Player Voice is needed because I’m the last person to know about my football development’ (Academy player u18)
Our Supporters
Clubs that have helped advise and support the development of the pilot include Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC. Children and young people have helped inform the programme.
Match funding support is being provided by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Advice and support is also provided by The Premier League.
The pilot aims to create a proven framework and give practical guidance for football clubs to involve their young academy players in impactful community engagement experiences.
The pilot has the following objectives:
Planning & Delivery
Academy players will be involved in planning, delivering and evaluating a community and sport-based project with a community partner.
Encourage Discussion of Local Issues
Encourages discussion and understanding of issues regarding social integration, isolation and barriers people in communities face.
Aligning with Mayor of London Priorities
Aligns with Sadiq’s priorities to engage with London PL football clubs, outlined in the Sports Unites manifesto.
Develope Communication Skills
To be Player led’ and aims to motivate and inspire players to develop as confident communicators.
Building Capacity
Builds capacity of volunteers, staff and young apprentices to access work opportunities in the programme, develop skills in delivering ‘player voice’ activities.