Route 03 of 04
See the National Plan
What it costs, in what order, and what it returns — the model, the law and the numbers behind it.
The football ecosystem — 15 parts
A football industry is not fifteen talented children. It is fifteen professions, and our Plan addresses this problem.
The people on the pitch
Players
Boys and girls with somewhere to play, someone to coach them and a competition to be seen in.
Coaches
Badged, paid coaches working with the same players week after week.
Referees
Trained, protected, paid officials, without whom no league can be trusted.
Scouts
People whose job is to watch, record and rate players against a standard.
The people who run it
Administrators
Competition, registration, licensing and compliance staff who keep a season running.
Club management
Directors, finance, commercial and operations staff running a club as a business.
Governance and regulation
The rules, and the enforcement of them: registration, licensing, safeguarding, disputes.
The people who keep it standing up
Medical and fitness professionals
Physiotherapists, doctors, sports scientists and strength coaches.
Education and training
Schooling alongside football, and vocational qualifications for everyone else in the game.
Media and content creators
Reporting, broadcast, photography and archive work that gives the game a public record.
Agents and intermediaries
Licensed representation that protects a player in a contract negotiation.
The places it happens
Facilities and infrastructure
Courts, pitches, floodlights, changing rooms, arenas and the running costs behind them.
Professional clubs
Licensed, solvent clubs paying wages, running academies and holding assets.
The money that sustains it
Sponsorship
Commercial partners buying audience, association and activation rather than making donations.
Commercial investment
Priced, returnable capital into facilities, clubs and player development.