Dear Friend

The IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department has been core funded with support from the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation via the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council since December 1998. The current core funding runs out in June 2008.

IFA Community Relations Officer, Colleen Macauley, was appointed in August 2006, to help make a Community Relations impact on the Irish League and to support the continued mainstreaming of Community Relations throughout the IFA.

Working in partnership with the wider football family the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department has developed a comprehensive Football For All Community Relations Strategy 2007-2012 which supports and compliments the new IFA Corporate Strategy 2007-2012, which is currently being developed. To support the Football For All Community Relations Strategy 2007-2012 the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department has developed a funding plan to support sustainability.

The IFA’s Football For All Campaign is based on the guiding principles of:

1. Support
2. Education
3. Outreach
4. Communication

Support – Recent research carried out on the IFA’s Football For All Campaign by Democratic Dialogue (2005) and the Institute for Conflict Research (2007) highlight that the key strength of Football For All has been supporting and activating Fans, Community Workers and Volunteers to tackle the issues of sectarianism and racism. The clearest example of this has been the remarkable progress working in partnership with the Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs to create a more inclusive, family orientated and sectarian free atmosphere at Northern Ireland international games. This progress has been underpinned by the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department actively supporting Fan driven initiatives to challenge sectarianism, such as the “Sea of Green” encouraging Supporters to wear the colours of the team.

Education – The IFA is the only governing body of football in Europe which has a three hour compulsory Community Relations Awareness Module in its Coach Education Programme. As a condition of funding all IFA Staff receive Community Relations training from external Trainers on a biannual basis. The IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department have formed a strategic alliance with the School of Sport Studies at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown, delivering Community Relations lectures to empower Sport Studies Students to make a positive difference in sport and holding a joint internationally renowned Football For All Conference on a annual basis at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown, to share good practice challenging sectarianism and racism.

Outreach – UEFA regularly highlight the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department as a model of good practice showcasing how governing bodies can work in partnership with Fans to successfully challenge sectarianism and racism. In 2006 the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department successfully nominated the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs for the IOC, UEFA and EU endorsed Brussels International Supporters Award for their efforts to eradicate sectarianism from the terraces. As a result of this international recognition representatives from the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department have been invited to join the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) Network and to speak at UEFA Anti-Racism Conferences in Barcelona and London sharing good practice about how to work in partnership with Fans to tackle sectarianism.

In June 2005 the IFA’s Head of Community Relations, Michael Boyd (a European A Licence Coach), was invited by the University of Brighton to take part in a innovative Value Based Coaching programme called Football For Peace in Israel (Michael’s involvement was sponsored by the British Council), designed to promote respect between Arab and Jewish Children. Michael’s experience on Football For Peace was captured in a new Football For Peace book, published this year, in a chapter written by Michael comparing the lessons learned in Football For All in Northern Ireland with the challenges facing Football For Peace in Israel. This new book has given the IFA’s Football For All Campaign even greater international recognition and credibility in the field of Sport and Community Relations. This year the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department has been instrumental in bringing Football For Peace to the North West of Ireland via the new Gateway Soccer Programme supported by Co-operation Ireland so that young people on both sides of the border can benefit from the innovative Value Based Coaching manual developed by Professor John Sugden and his team from the University of Brighton.

In September 2006 the IFA’s Head of Community Relations, Michael Boyd, was selected to take part in the prestigious Community Builders Programme in New York. Michael’s involvement was sponsored by Costello Associates and the Belfast Local Strategy Partnership. The Community Builders Programme involves two weeks placement in a high school teaching and two weeks as a student at Columbia University studying Community Relations. The programme is designed to encourage greater partnership work between the PSNI and Community Relation’s Workers. In September this year the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department is working in partnership with the PSNI in East Belfast to bring a class from a High School in New York to take part in a Youth Forum to discuss Interculturalism at Ashfield Boys High School with a number of Protestant and Catholic School Children from Northern Ireland.

Communication –An important aspect of the IFA’s Football For All programme is the media drip campaign raising awareness of the IFA’s development in Community Relations. On average the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department provide the IFA Communication Team with one press release a week which is sent to media, placed on IFA website and distributed via IFA ezine. This media drip campaign over the last seven years has been successful in creating a more positive corporate brand, paving the way for new sponsorships and marketing opportunities.

A recent development taken on by the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department is the production of a monthly internal Football For All News Sheet highlighting development in Women’s Football, Disability Football, Refereeing, Grassroots Football, Boys Football and Child Welfare. This News Sheet has been well received by IFA Staff and has improved internal communication, helping people to strategically co-ordinate events and combine resources where appropriate.

In February this year the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department successfully organised a Football For All Awards Night to reward Volunteers in Boys Football, Women’s Football, Disability Football, Grassroots Football, Supporter Bodies and Community Relations. This event received superb media coverage in the build up and after the event. The event was hosted by the IFA’s Football For All Ambassador Colin Murray (star of Fame Academy, Radio One DJ and TV Football Presenter). This will be an annual event designed to reward the lifeblood of football, Volunteers, and communicate to the wider public the important role football is playing in the community.

The Future - Working in partnership with key groups such as Volunteers, Coaches and Fans, Football For All has made a real difference over the last seven years creating a more inclusive culture in the sport of Football in Northern Ireland. From a business point of view this has helped modernise the IFA, paving the way for new sponsorship opportunities which support all aspects of development at the IFA. Now is the time to push Community Relations forward and build on the success to date to make more of a Community Relations impact in the Irish League creating a culture which embraces interculturalism. Three key areas of development have been identified by the IFA’s Football For All Community Relations Department to focus on over the next 12 months:

1. The development of a new Football For All Interagency Forum to empower Clubs, Supporters and Volunteers to address the key issues facing Irish League Football, highlighted in the recommendations of the recent Institute for Conflict Research which monitored and evaluated sectarianism and racism in local football.
2. The development of the IFA’s innovative World United programme designed to encourage more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to become involved in the sport of Football in Northern Ireland.
3. The development of the Football For All campaign working in partnership with Fans at Northern Ireland international games to create a more family orientated, fun and inclusive atmosphere.

Your support for Football For All and the development of Community Relations at the IFA is greatly appreciated. If you would like to meet up to discuss any of the above please do not hesitate to contact me on 02890 669458, or if you have feedback you would like to email to me please send to mboyd@irishfa.com .

Best Wishes

Michael Boyd MSc BA Hons
Head of Community Relations