Successful leadership and management of the modern sports club require delivery against sporting and social objectives while ensuring the financial sustainability of the organisation. Leaders and managers need a distinct set of skills to thrive in this context where clubs are operating in a competitive and changing environment.

Very few clubs do not have a programme which supports coaches who want to develop new skills. That is not the case with the volunteers who are involved with the actual development and running of the club. Very few clubs actively look at how they can improve their leadership and management and, say, develop more efficient decision making (just look at the time it often takes to make even the simplest decisions in clubs).

Hopefully, this guide can help you to improve the leadership and management at your club. This is not an exact science and each club and environment is different, so you will have to adapt the advice given here to your specific situation. .

 Community sports clubs can play a significant role in people’s lives and provide great football and consumer experiences for all; talented or not, player or parent or casual or dedicated.

In order to attract more players community sports clubs must become more welcoming and focused on the players and their welfare and ensure they are having fun and feel engaged. They must listen to people’s lives, communicate with them on their terms and in their language and ensure that they are more than just a sports club.

We have been studying best practice across sports clubs across the UK and in many sports and we have found some, often simple, ways to get more people to play sport, in this case, football.

This guide will give you some thoughts, tools and to-dos on how to attract and retain more players of all ages, shapes and talents.

The notion that a community sports club is indeed an enterprise that has to attract, serve and retain customers and make a surplus whilst fulfilling its sporting and community objectives is something that many clubs will need help to embrace. Sports clubs must develop a sustainable income model – getting away from the panicky Dash for Cash often running around literally begging for money.

The key is to look at the whole operation and ambition of your club and then identify and implement projects which can help grow your income to match your requirements, including generating cash reserves for replacements and developments. The creativity and commercial awareness of a number of community sports clubs who are ensuring their sustainability will be shared.

This guide will give you plenty of thoughts, tools and to-dos on how you can develop better income-generating strategies and initiatives that are right for your club. In your environment, with your skills and contacts and aligned with your mission. It will help you move from a fundraising culture to one of income generation where you provide real benefits that people will pay for and has value to your customers (members, guests, supporters, sponsors)…

Dozens and dozens of proven ideas on how to generate income and concrete advice on how to implement the most appropriate ones.

Community sports clubs can play a significant role in people’s lives and provide great football and consumer experiences for all; talented or not, player or parent or casual or dedicated.

In order to attract more players community sports clubs must become more welcoming and focused on the players and their welfare and ensure they are having fun and feel engaged. They must listen to people lives, communicate with them on their terms and in their language and ensure that they are more than just a sports club.

 

We have been studying best practice across sports clubs across the UK and in many sports and we have found some, often simple, ways to get more people to play sport, in this case, football.

 

This guide will give you some thoughts, tools and to-dos on how to attract and retain more players of all ages, shapes and talents

 Great sports clubs work for and with their communities, and as a consequence, both parties benefit. They are in reality Hubs for their Communities. They link up their assets, skills and relationships with people, groups and institutions in their communities. They create Shared Value – a new kind of partnership, in which both the club and the community contribute directly to the strengthening and development of each other.

This guide will help you to become well connected to your community and find a common purpose between your partners and yourself. You will be given advice on the best ways to work together, benefitting both parties and on how to make it easier to understand each other and benefit from doing so. It will also cover how you can best assess your potential for working with community partners – what are your assets, relationships and skills?

The guide illustrates the 12 Steps for Creating Shared Value, which they then can implement straight away.

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Open Days can be a great way of bringing new people to your club and engaging with the community around you. An Open Day can be a fantastic opportunity to build relationships with your community, attract new people to your club and provide existing members with another, great experience.

 

Open days need both planning and creativity if they are to be successful. Unfortunately, we have experienced clubs where little thought went into their Open Days and they end up being boring and not particularly useful.