10% fewer football teams in England since 2007

Floyd Montana

Extraordinary trend highlighted in Dan Roan's blog, which will lead to funding cuts from Sport England. Some extracts from the blog:

_{The Numbers Game - FA facing participation challenge}

The harsh reality is that the numbers participating in the national game is declining. Sport England reports
those playing regular football fell from 2,144,700 in 2007 to 2,090,000
by last year. While the number of small-sided teams has gone up by a
thousand in the last five years, the FA admits the number of
traditional, adult, male, 11-a-side teams has fallen from 33,568 in
2005-06 to 30,355 in 2010-11, driven by a rapid fall in the numbers of
16-19-year-olds playing the sport.

It has already been warned by Sport England, the body responsible for investing £480m into grassroots sport through the Whole Sport Plan,
that its current four-year, £25m funding stream could be cut if it
cannot urgently reverse the downward trend in participation numbers.

There is a chronic shortage of decent, well-maintained, public football facilities. London has 16% of England's population but just 3% of the football facilities.

MuttleyCAFC

Yes, it is much easier to book a 5 a side pitch which probably explains the increase there.

Leroy Ambrose

It's not just the pitch booking - having run Sunday teams for years when I was younger it is a total nightmare. The most outrageous time-drainer you could imagine, and if you're still playing, having to run it all saps all the enjoyment out of the game - sorting kits out, ringing people up all week, sorting out referees, league meetings, arranging the pitched with the council, talking tro the oppositing and making sure they're turning up, keeping everyone in the squad happy even if they aren't playing that week, disciplinary paperwork - it's an absolute fucking joke. No wonder 11-a-side participation is going down.