YOUR OFFICIAL GUIDE TO FOOTBALL’S REAL ROOTS

GRASSROOTS MONTHLY www.GRASSROOTSMONTHLY.COM ISSUE 16 april 2015 £2.95

McDonald’sWe take a look at the fast food restaurant’s work in promoting and helping grassroots football.

‘Why more needs to be done’Chief writer Joseph Rietdyk-Johnson has his say on the topic that has had the powers of football higher up the scale talking.

“THE ELITE NEED TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE”

From poverty to the biggest stageThe latest instalment of our series of footballers who made it big the more difficult way.

PLUS: WHY GREG DYKE’S COMMENTS NEED TO INSPIRE CHANGE

GRASSROOTS MONTHLY CHATS EXCLUSIVELY TO BEN MOORCROFT-MORAN, A PART-TIME PLAYER AND REFEREE AND A PASSIONATE BELIEVER IN GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL

CONTENTS4 THE WORK OF A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT

Taking a more imformative look at McDonald’s and their work in improving football in the community.

6 DRIVING IMPROVEMENT

Following the chairman of the FA’s comments that grassroots football is ‘in crisis’ late last year, we examine how change needs to take place fast.

8 “EFFORTS NEED TO BE STEPPED UP”

Our exclusive interview with Ben Moorcroft-Moran on what he believes should be done.

10 JOSEPH RIETDYK-JOHNSON

Grassroots Monthly’s chief writer gives his views on this long standing issue.

11 LUIS SUAREZ

In our monthly series of ‘Climbing the hard way’, this week is the turn of the former Liverpool star.

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EDITOR - Joseph Rietdyk-Johnson

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HELPING THE COURSEAs fears over the long-term future of grassroots football increase more and more, one of the world’s largest restaurant chains carry on doing their bit to ensure that everyone has a chance to play the beautiful game.

advice, better coaching for coaches, kits for teams to step onto the field in and more recogination for volunteers. It also announced that it would give more than 7,000 accredited clubs the chance to receive a brand new set

of football strips every year for the next four seasons, the duration of the latest agreement. McDonald’s have been very ambitious in their intentions to make themselves a major play-er in the development of present and future players, hiring footballers past and present to promote and oversee their campaigns. They include legends like Kenny Daglish and Ian Rush and present players such as Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey. Dalglish is the McDonald’s Head of Scottish Football and in March 2013, as the Scottish FA and the US fast food giants celebrated 10 years of being in partner-ship, he lauded the impact that the partnership had brought to grassroots foot-ball in Scotland. He said: “The Scottish FAand McDonald’s

partnership has worked for ten years to make the game as attractive as possible so more people play the game. I think this has worked very well. The numbers of players is going up all the time.”

For a legend like Dal-glish (above) who achieved plenty of success at Liverpool and Celtic, two giants of world football, to speak so highly of the work that McDonald’s have done only shows that their continuous hard work to give grassroots football a permament lease of life has paid dividends for areas and associations who wish to see grassroots have a place in the long term direction of football. The Irish FA, the Eng-lish FA, the Scottish FA and Welsh Football Trust have also backed a campaign labelled the ‘Mum’s On The Ball’ which aims to raise awareness of the real potential that mums can bring to coaching and become qualified coaches as a result of joining

Major footballing bodies are often critisised for overlooking the needs of the next generation. But for years, despite being known for their clean reputation of selling Big Macs and Happy Meals, McDonald’s (centre right) has been one of the FA’s major partners in improv-ing grassroots football and has been very clear with its intentions of improving the standard of playing and coaching in England. McDonald’s associa-tion with British foot-ball doesn’t just end with the FA. It is also in-volved with the other major football organisations in the UK and works with them to make football for young people a realistic but also acheiveable aim to pursue. Since 2002, they have been involved with all assosiations and after announcing a new four-year agreement to continue their association with football on these shores in September 2014, they announced a new programme named‘Better Play’. It will focus on raising stand-ards at grassroots football clubs through better safety

By Joseph Rietdyk-Johnson

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courses which take place across the UK. This programme not only gives women who wouldn’t usually have an opportunity to pursue a coaching career in an industry that is such a difficult one to break into, it also gives them a realistic platform in which to begin their journey up the ladder. Speaking at the time of the campaign’s launch, Trevor Erskine, a member of the Irish FA and the IRA McDonald’s Grassroots Co-Coordinator spoke of the ‘great work’ that the partnership had brought to grassroots football and hoped that the campaign would encourage more mums to get involved in coaching. “The Mum’s on the Ball campaign represents an im-portant step in encouraging mums from all walks of life

to get involved in football coaching. “Over 50 per cent of the total population in Northern Ireland are women and although more mums and women are getting involved in coaching there is still a deficit of active female coaches.” This just proves that Mc-Donald’s efforts do not just stop at making sure that grassroots has a place in local communities, a large part of itsintentions are also basedon ensuring equality and

include opportunities for clubs to secure funding for development projects, information on coaching or running a club and chances for youngsters to walk out on a football pitch as a player escort. One McDonald’s worker said that the organisation deserves praise in both an employability sense and also for the tireless work that it does for both grassroots football and local communities. “McDonald’s is a very good working environment as it treats its employees very well and it also has that good unity within the work force. “But I have also noticed the amount of work that they do both in the local community and also for grassroots football. “McDonald’s has a policy to ensure that their cus-tomers are given a good dining experience. But it also aims to see the lo-cal communities that they serve also thriving.” Of course the campaign isn’t just about teams asking for funding and getting it straight away. There are a number of procedures involved before the go ahead is given. However to see such a large organisaion and one of the most recognisable brands in the world be involved in one of the longest campaigns in sport and show their commitment in a huge way only shows that there are figures out there that see a future for grassroots. McDonald’s are in the game for the long-term.

making sure that people, no matter what their gender is are given an op-portunity that is no dif-ferent than another that is given. Since 2001, The FA, with the support of McDon-ald’s has an accreditation scheme designed for grass-roots clubs and leagues with its main aim being to raise standards in grass-roots football, support the development of clubs and leagues, and recog-nising and rewarding them for their commitment and achievements. Clubs who are judged to be well-run and sustainable, and which prioritise child protec-tion, quality coaching and fully participate in the ‘Respect’ programme can be rewarded with The FACharter Standardaccreditation. Clubs who are given the accreditation are then given the challenge to progress to the next level or to maintain that level. There is one accreditation level for leagues and that is that they can become an official FA Char-ter Standard League. The campaign to give grassroots football teams the kick-start they need has also gone online. McDonald’s Kick-Start is a website solely dedicated to grassroots football. It gives individuals and teams who are involved in grassroots football the opportinity to secure financial backing and also offers inventives. These

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As the elite of English football get richer due to the record breaking Premier League TV deal, critics predict that none or little of that money will be invested back into local football. It is wrong and unless it is resolved soon, it may be too late to save grassroots in the UK.

Speaking in an interview with the BBC last October, FA chairman Greg Dyke expressed his concerns about grassroots football being ‘in crisis’ and admitted that more needed to be done to safeguard its future. In the interview he spoke of how England were behind the likes of Holland and Germany in terms of the number of coaches who are in work and the facilities on offer. It is no secret that the FA see the newly built St Georges Park as the key to the future of English football in order to make up ground on the likes of Spain and Germany. Both have seen their efforts in providing the best possible opportunities for aspiring players and coach-es pay off in recent years as they have both shared two European Championships and two World Cups between them with Spain winning three of those. The England national team’s poor showing at last summer’s World Cup in Brazil has led to fears of the country facing an even

longer wait than the 49 years that it has waited for success in a major tournament. Many fans see this being due to the lack of talent coming through the ranks and being given the opportunity to estabilsh themselves at club level.

The last notable English talents to come through the ranks and establish themselves both at club level and international level are Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney. But Gerrard is 34 and has retired playing internationally and is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season to play the final years of his career in the US with LA Galaxy. Rooney, mean-while, is still very much a fixture in the England starting XI but is just a few months shy of his 30th birthday. There IS talent playing schoolboy and Sunday football. The prob-lem is though, the clubs and parks that they spend trying to be talent spot-ted by scouts representing professional football

clubs are being either forced to close down due to a lack of funding or they can no longer carry on functioning due to a lack of interest. The pressure on the Premier League and its 20 clubs to invest significantly into grassroots football has only increased in the past month due to the record breaking TV deal worth over £5 billion which will come into force from the start of the 2016/17 season. Experts even reckon that figure will increase when future deals are struck out. As the money being pumped into football goes up by each passing year, it is staggering to see grassroots football in the situation that it finds itself in some quarters. The FA led by its chairman Greg Dyke, (centre), with the backing of McDonald’s have come up with a number of schemes and gone to extreme efforts to encourage more people to get involved in football and keep more local teams open for business. The problem is that they both need more support and backing to see their efforts reach out far wider. The Premier League have spoken briefly about their intentions to contribute to give grassroots a better future. But for a organisation blessed with the financ-es that they receive from companies that help to fund their competition, their efforts have been

By Joseph Rietdyk-Johnson

THE NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT

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“There’s a degree of crisis in what’s happening in grassroots football” - Greg Dyke, October 2014.effortless at best and need to contribute more. This season’s best players and percieved by many as the biggest stars, Diego Costa, Phillipe Coutinho and Alexis Sanchez are all from South America. However many experts and fans reckon that England may have finally found someone who can be at the centre of the next generation in Harry Kane, an unknown 21 year-old who has scored over 20 goals for Tottenham Hotspur so far this season. 20 year-old Raheem Sterling of Liverpool has also rose to prominence in the last 12 months and has become an important assetfor both club and coun-try; and is reportedly on the verge of signing a new long-term contract which will see him become one ofof Liverpool’s highest earners.

So look around the league and you will no-tice that some of Eng-land’s elite clubs are beginning to give oppor-tunities to local talent once more and there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for England in or-der to push on and chal-lenge the best national teams on the planet. Clubs struggling both financially and in a com-petitive sense being bailed out by rich bene-factors and being able to fund a quick rise to the top will soon be a thing of the past with the upcoming Financial Fair Play rules introduced by UEFA soon to take full effect. In order to discover the best local talent, that talent need both the best facilities and the opportunities to be able to put themelves on the

shop window. The hope is that clubs will see naturing from within the ranks and potentially saving themselves millions of pounds in the inflat-ed transfer market will see grassroots take on greater signifiance, and we will finally see foot-ball’s leading bodies and local authorities uniting together and giving grassroots not just a better tomorrow but a better outlook for many years and decades to come. But for that to happen, it requires decisive action NOW. Peers Dyke and Scuda-more need to show that they are up for the fight ahead and put the needs of young people ahead of financial gain. Grassroots football can be the answer to many of the game’s problems.

One of many abandoned grassroots pitches all across England and the UK.

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BEN MOORCROFT-MORAN EXCLUSIVE

Many football fans and followers believe that grassroots football has a future in the game. Ben Moorcroft-Moran is no different and is keen for the Premier League and the biggest clubs to help do their bit to fund grassroots and give youngsters a platform to make the step up from Sunday league football to professional level. During our chat, Ben pointed to a number of factors as to why grassroots seems to be failing and one of them was the infrastructure that the English game has in place. “I think the main problem with grassroots football is the availibility for younger children to get involved in football within a well structured environment. “This means having the funding for the correct facilities and playing areas as well as funding qualified coaches who are committed to creating a good environment for children to enjoy the sport.” The new Premier League TV deal announced in early February which will be worth over £5 billion over a three-year period has only heated up the

pressure on the Premier League and England’s 20 top division clubs to put some of their slice of the fortune back into grassroots. The Bangor University student believes that future deals should be monitored in a way that money IS invested back into grassroots football. “The money which is given to the Premier League from TV broadcasters such as Sky should be monitored in such a way which encourages funding to be direct towards football in the community.” The English game is seen as one of the rich-est in the world and with the Premier League more than just an organisation in the sense that it is also a brand all over the world, it is surprising to see football lower down

the scale struggling to stay afloat in such a major footballing country such as England. Ben not only suggests that the playing side needs more attention, he also thinks that coach-ing finds itself in the same position, an area he thinks is key if the country has any hope in bringing through the next big things. “For English football to improve on a competitive international level, I believe that more fund-ing needs to be directed towards the coaching as-pects of grassroots foot-ball, therefore giving more structure and support to young developing players. “Professional clubs can help support grassroots football in their local community by supporting

“PROFESSIONAL CLUBS NEED TO STEP UP THEIR EFFORTS” WE CHAT TO UNIVERSITY STUDENT, PLAYER AND REFEREE BEN ON HOW HE FEELS THE FUTURE OF GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL IS IN THE HANDS OF THE POWERS ABOVE

20 year-old Ben attends Bangor University and has played football from a very young age and also has aspirations to become a qualified referee.

By Joseph Rietdyk-Johnson

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the development of local grassroots leagues with more funding going towards faciities in coordination with the council and local youth groups.” Ben from Allerton, Liverpool is in his third and final year at Bangor University and has been studying History and English Literature. He is a member of the university football team and has always been a keenplayer of the game. “I play football for the university and I play football with a group of friends in a five-a-side league. “I also seen it as a form of family bonding as my brother Joe played it and my father watched us play and coached the both of us.” We also spoke about the massive diffrences between the modern day player and young players in terms of their attitude towards the game. “The differences between

say a 27 year-old who hasbeen playing professionally for a number of years and an 11 year-old are bound to be different in some ways. “It probably has do with how that person matures and gets more used to the knows and hows of life. “As you get older, you tend to see an every day occupation as more like a job but when you are younger, you are still maturing and have less worries in the sense that you can enjoy it more. “But I think the major differences between a professional player and a young boy playing the game in front of 50 to 100 people on a park field comes down to money. “I believe it overshadows the passion that the majority of pro-fessional footballers have for football and it is more evident in the younger generations and in grassroots football because it is not their occupation and they do it

purely out of enjoyment.” We move onto whether Ben thinks that enough is being done by the brokers above to help save grassroots and he suggests that the FA should do more to encourage people to get involved. “I believe that the FA has a huge respensibility in ensuring the development of football at all levels, from the Premier League right down to grassroots football. “Players and coaches looking for that break into the professional game need the encouragement and sup-port from the likes of the FA and one of their main priorities should be to intergrate them into the Premier League and other professional football leagues.” So what is the overall attitude of grassroots in English society? According to the former Calderstones School student, society sees it as a vital way to maintain their enjoyment of football and getting in-volved in the sport. “I think that throughout the UK, football is generally considered one of the most popular sports and is therefore one of the most funded sports in the Kingdom. “Therefore I think that grassroots football is an important part of maintaining the interests of those who play the sport and it is an in-tegral part of the struc-ture and development of football.” So how about the future for Ben in the game. “As a passionate player and referee, I will always be involved in football.”

As well as playing outfield, Ben (right) also referees in matches and has even officiated in summer football tournaments. He is also an Everton supporter and attends matches regularly.

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JOSEPH RIETDYK-JOHNSON OUR CHIEF WRITER GIVES HIS MONTHLY VIEW ON ALL THINGS GRASSROOTS

Tuesday 10th February 2015 proved a major change in an already inflated landscape in football. It was announced that Sky and BT Sport had agreed a mouthwatering deal worth over £5 billion to con-tinue showing the Premier League with the three-year agreement starting in 2016. The focus didn’t just

their strong intentions to improve the opportu-nities on offer to young-sters in this country but the truth is, they are too focussed on pursuing the next TV deal or ways to make their ‘brands’ the best in the world. Football and sport in general is an industry where making money is just as important to a team or individual as the winning and understandable as without the balance sheet flowing, the game struggles to stay afloat. But in an age where clubs get richer and the com-petition backers flourish even more, it is impor-tant that a proper plan is put in place to ensure that any child that poten-tially could be the next Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney is given the best opportunity possible.

As more and more amateur clubs close their gates due to a lack of funding, it is also reducing the chances of talented indi-viduals being headhunt-ed and being handed the opportunity to showcase their talent. There is also a major concern amongst English fans that the large in-flux of foreign players has seen clubs overlook the possibility of discover-ing someone they can call their own. Clubs, the FA, the Premier League and local councils need to sit down and discuss ways how in-vestments that are coming in from far and wide can be spread out to give are-as in England the funding to improve parks and clubs that have the potential to work wonders but are forced to close down due to outside issues. Clubs all over Europe are under pressure to maximise their businesses in order to cope with the forthcom-ing Financial Fair Play rules which ensures that clubs can only spend what they generate, ending the days when an individual’s cheque book can transform a club overnight which makes finding from within even more vital. The clout is there and will only grow so its time to act, and act fast.

turn to the fact that the cost to screen ONE match will cost an average of £10.19 million but how much of the money that clubs will recieve will be invested back into the game as a whole. There is no doubt that for the next generation of players coming through, they need not only the best facilties but also the opportunities to go on and eventually fulfil their potential. The FA and the Premier League always mention

VITAL WE SEE ELITE CLUBS INVESTING INTO THE GAME LOWER DOWN THE SCALE

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CLIMBING THE HARD WAY IN OUR MONTHLY SERIES, WE TAKE A LOOK AT URUGUAYAN SUPERSTAR LUIS SUAREZ WHO ESCAPED THE POVERTY BACK HOME TO BECOME ONE OF FOOTBALL’S BIGGEST NAMESGrowing up in the back-streets in Salto, Uruguay, Luis Suarez was just like any ordinary boy. One of seven children, Saurez and his family moved to the Urguguayan capital of Montevideo and his life was to change forever. His father’s decision to move the family due to work commitments began a glori-ous chapter for 6-year old Luis. Suarez had a hunger to one day become a footballer from a very young age. His family knew of his ability with a ball and made it one of their main priorities to find him an opportunity. Little-known Urrenta de-cided to give Luis a trial and he was named amongst their team substitutions. Trailing 2-0, they looked to Suarez for inspiration and the decision paid div-idends as he scored a hat-trick and turned the game in Urrenta’s favour. As the years progressed, Suarez’s progress contin-ued but not without a few hurdles along the way. In 2003, his then-girl-friend Sofia and her family moved to Barcelona and it was a decision that hurt Luis but also spurred him on. Dutch side Groningen gave Suarez the opportunity he wanted to play in Europe in order to be closer to his first-love.Luis and Sofia were reunit-ed with each other and both their relationship and his footballing career have

But it wasn’t until Brendan Rodgers took over in June 2012 that Suarez’s goal record for the club really took off. In 2012/13, he strook 30 goals and despite missing the first few weeks of the following season due to suspen-sion, he still ended up being the league’s leading goalscorer and his 31 goals took Liv-erpool the closest they have ever been to a first league title since 1990. In July 2014, the Reds reluctantly accepted a £75 million offer from Barcelona and despite failing to yet hit the heights from his time at Anfield, his new team are still in a healthy position both domesti-cally and in Europe to challenge the attacking riches of arch-rivals Real Madrid. Suarez is also a god back home in his na-tive Uruguay where he is their record goalscorer and most recognisable figure. Wherever this little magician has landed, he has never failed to make the headlines both good or bad. On the pitch, he is a fierce competitor will-ing to go to any lengths in order to gain victory but love him or loathe him, he is a real talent who any team would have in an instant.

since taken a step in the right decision, albeit with a few hurdles along the way. Ajax were the team where he made his name when he signed for them. He netted 111 times in just 159 ap-pearances. His last game for the club ended contro-versally after he bit PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal. In January 2011, he was on his way to Liverpool and to the Premier League in a £22.8 million transfer. Suarez was a cult hero on The Kop straight away and despite a rather mod-est goalscoring record for his high standards in his first full season, he still played a massive part in helping the club to win the League Cup and get to the FA Cup final.

Suarez (above) came to fruition during his spell at Liverpool.

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