London Football Association ‘focused on tapping into various different strands’ – Voice Online

THE London Football Association (LFA) is committed to improving representation among referees in the English game.

On November 7^th, the London FA announced their brand new 2024-2028 strategy and modernised brand, ‘London For All’, which seeks to ensure that football is accessible to everyone, regardless of age, gender, or ability.

London FA’s new strategy complements the FA’s own Grassroots Strategy, released at the end of October 2024.

This new strategy aims to address five core elements; improving player choice and experience, delivering equal opportunities for women and girls to grow, building new and improving existing facilities, tackling poor behaviour on and off the pitch, and developing a valued network of volunteers, coaches, and referees.

Deryll David, London FA’s Referee Development Manager, sat down with The Voice to discuss just how important the work behind that final core element is.

We’re heading in a direction where we want to encourage people from all backgrounds to get involved

“We’re heading in a direction where we want to encourage people from all backgrounds to get involved,” Deryll said.

“We want people to know that their diversity, ethnicity, gender or sexuality isn’t a barrier to them getting involved.

“That starts at the recruitment stage. Really thinking about where we can recruit from. Using census data to be able to figure out where there are more Black people, people of an Asian background, and holding courses in these areas to remove any barriers of travel.”

Deryll insists that this work has been going on behind the scenes for some time now. However, now, it is about pushing forward and taking things to the next level.

“We had already started this work before the new strategy was launched, which is great, but now there’s more resources being put into it, so to an extent, we’re able to hold more of these courses.

“It is just about ramping things up and thinking over the next three to four years how we can continue this work and take it to the next level.”

And Deryll hopes that the work the London FA are doing at grassroots and semi-professional level can have a ripple effect all the way up to the professional game

“Society has pushed a lot for this change. Most organisations around the world are looking at their diversity. They’re trying to ensure that they’re inclusive and open to all.

“I know that from our point of view at London FA, we’re focused on ensuring that we’re tapping into various different strands. We need to really be looking at people from underrepresented backgrounds, female referees, people from an LGBTQ+ plus background.

We’re not concerned about ruffling a few feathers

“The more we do of this, the better the game will be. Just having Sam Allison as a referee at Premier League level, it isn’t good enough.

“If 22 players walked out onto the pitch and they were all white English, that would be noticed, because it doesn’t reflect society as a whole.

“For us as an organisation it is important that we’re trying to represent what London looks like. The city is very multicultural and diverse, so we have to ensure that out coaching workforce, our referee, workforce our staff, our boards, our councils, all these groups that represent us have that that same level of diversity.”

However, the London FA are aware that they can’t influence nationwide change alone, it needs to be a collective effort.

“Anyone with these decision-making powers, including us at the London FA, the PGMOL, the Premier League, the EFL, it is important that we are influencing thins change by making sure these things are seen to be happening.

“Otherwise, we’ll be right back to square one. We’re not concerned about ruffling a few feathers. If there are people who think that this work isn’t important, we know that the larger society know that this work is important.”