We have launched new infographics tracking the number of incidents in grassroots football across three key areas of the game – discipline, discrimination and safeguarding.

As a County FA, we have a responsibility to lead, protect and support participants in grassroots football within Berks and Bucks.

Part of this responsibility, as delegated by The Football Association, is taking disciplinary action over red and yellow cards on the field of play and raising misconduct charges relating to more serious incidents outside the authority of the referee. We also play a key role in supporting our network of volunteer Welfare Officers across the County to manage poor practice and low level concerns regarding behaviour in youth football. 

As an organisation our core values are to be Inspirational, Inclusive, Proactive and Trusted.

To be trusted, we must champion transparency. To be transparent, we believe it is important to be proactive in sharing the progress made towards reducing poor behaviour on and off the pitch. 

Our commitment going forward is to provide regular reports across the season (January, April and July) and provide comparisons against previous years statistics.

Alastair Kay, Head of Governance at Berks & Bucks FA, said: “We recognise the significant impact misconduct in grassroots football can have, especially on those who are victims of abuse or violent behaviour. Whilst fewer than 1% of matches lead to further action under our disciplinary or safeguarding procedures, this number is still too many. By sharing our reporting, we hope we can shine a light on this kind of poor behaviour and the work being done to stamp it out from our game.

“We will not tolerate discrimination, abuse against match officials or abuse against children in any form and we remain committed to ensuring everyone involved in grassroots football is able to participate in safe, fun and inclusive environments.”

For more information about tackling misconduct and discrimination in grassroots football, please contact Alastair Kay, Berks & Bucks FA, Head of Governance, via email. 

For any queries regarding Safeguarding please contact our Designated Safeguarding Officer, Graham Fisher. Alternatively, please visit our dedicated Discipline and Safeguarding pages.

Click on the images below to view the full reports.