FA Club, Link Research Project

National School, Club Link Research Project

Commissioned by The Football Association, KKExcel rose to the challenge when undertaking a comprehensive Research Project to review the implementation of The FA's National School, Club Link Programme. 

The rationale for this research project was driven by the poor transfer rates (national average 28%) from School, Club Link sessions into a CS Club environment and to identify the factors influencing this current trend.

The main aims of the Research Project were to:

• Identify the blockers and drivers that encourage/discourage young people aged 5-16 to move into and stay within a club setting
• Identify examples of good practice that can be shared with CFAs across England to improve the delivery of the School, Club Link Programme
• Measure the impact of CFAs developing tiered levels of opportunity for 5-16 year olds on providing participation opportunities linked to Clubs in 9 FA regions
• Review the connectivity between the School, Club Links Programme and other relevant initiatives such as Step in Sport (SIS), Skills Centres etc.
• Identify replicable good practice, rather than that based on unrealistically advantageous circumstances unlikely to bear repetition elsewhere.

The rationale that drove the need for this piece of research was that approximately 80% of participants involved in School, Club Link Programmes across England did not go on to join a club. To identify the reasons behind the low transfer rates it was imperative that the experience of the young person was the primary focus. Therefore the research method used initially concentrated on operational issues/factors.  The outcomes of the initial phase then shaped the content of the questioning used to tackle 'process' and 'strategic' issues/factors.

The Research Project involved eight County Football Associations from across England and appropriate engagement tools were used to gather feedback from players ranging from 6-16 years old, coaches, parents and Football Development Staff.

The extensive findings were collated into a detailed report, which has now informed and shaped the future delivery of School, Club Link Programmes across England to improve the transfer rates into a club environment.