Lincolnshire FA Announce Strategy To Improve Matchday Environments

Owen Hardwick

Lincolnshire FA have announced a new strategy to help improve matchday behaviours and conduct within youth football.

Lincolnshire FA have announced a new strategy to help improve matchday behaviours and conduct within youth football.

Pending League approval, it will be mandatory for every youth match to have a physical respect barrier at the side of the pitch to act as a deterrent to stop spectators from entering field of play.

With it being set out as a mandatory rule, all clubs will be provided with at least one respect barrier ahead of the 2024/25 season free of charge.

The cost of respect barriers has been split between Lincolnshire FA and the respective leagues. All clubs will receive one respect barrier per league that they play in across the county.

Within the 2022/23 and 2023/24 season, the conduct of coaches and spectators accounted for over 50% of all reports received within youth football. The 2023/24 season saw incidents involving spectators rise by 4% with 12 more reports received than the previous season.

As part of the project, should a spectator breach the respect barrier and confront a participant in the game, the match is to be abandoned by the Match Official. This aims to see a reduction in instances of spectators and officials entering the field of play.

Ben Pearce, Designated Safeguarding Officer at Lincolnshire FA, said: “The youth football community of Lincolnshire has spoken, and we need to listen and act where we can. Children never cease to amaze us in the clarity and pertinence they provide when asked their opinion. It is clear that children in Lincolnshire love their football and want to enjoy their footballing experience with friends and family alike.

Sadly, a concerning proportion of them can make specific references to poor adult conduct in their game and we need to firstly accept this, but secondly take responsibility to put it right and challenge where appropriate. Football is a game for all, and must remain that way.

The responses we had in our Consultation Survey expressed a desire for action when improving matchday behaviours and conduct, with many expressing concerns around touchline culture from spectators and wanting stricter action taken surrounding these negative behaviours and actions. We believe this new strategy will be a positive solution to this, and will hopefully lead to a shift in culture while supporting our clubs to have these barriers in place and improve their overall environments for children and parents alike."

For enquiries regarding the new strategy, please contact Ben Pearce on Ben.Pearce@lincolnshirefa.com. For Media related enquiries, please contact Zack Leader on Zack.Leader@lincolnshirefa.com.

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Written by Owen Hardwick