Case studies in governance: Berks & Bucks FA League Governance Code

Berks & Bucks FA talk us through the development and implementation of their League Governance Code, an initiative to improve governance at the local, grassroots level. The Code was the joint winner of the SGA Sports Governance Project of the Year in 2024.

Date: 18th Feb 2025

Author: Berks & Bucks FA

Context

Berks & Bucks FA is one of 50 County Football Associations nationally and is responsible for the development and governance of football across Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Our membership includes approximately 70,000 players and 4,500 Teams playing in 30 local Leagues.

Over the past few seasons, we had received an increase in the number of concerns and appeals related to League administration. While we are conscious that the Leagues are managed by volunteers and we are sympathetic to the challenges this presents, it was also clear that additional support was needed around key principles of good governance to allow Leagues to resolve these matters internally without intervention from the County FA. With their collective annual income increasing to over £410,000 and reserves of over £600,000, we also felt it was essential that volunteers properly understood their legal and financial responsibilities and to improve the confidence of their members and protect themselves.

Finally, it was increasingly clear that the pool of volunteers was not representative of the playing community and lacked appropriate levels of diversity. The vast majority (152 out of 207) were over the age of 50, with considerably more volunteers over 70 than under 40 (39:19). Only 16% of League Committee members identified as female and just 2% were from historically under-represented ethnic communities (compared to 17% of the wider population and 19% of players).

Development of the League Governance Code

The Football Association introduced a Code of Governance for County FAs in 2020, and Berks & Bucks FA was successful in achieving compliance in 2023. The journey to compliance had led to marked progress in the governance of the County FA and, in line with the goals from The FA and Sport England to continue cascading good governance across all levels of the game, we felt that an equivalent standard for grassroots leagues would significantly benefit our members.

To create a code, a line-by-line review of both The FA’s Code of Governance for County FAs and the Code for Sports Governance was completed, with criteria retained, adapted or removed to make it applicable for grassroots volunteer Leagues. Draft criteria were shared with a sample of Leagues across different levels of the male and female game, and advice was also sought from key contacts and stakeholders at both Sport England and The FA. The standards are designed to be stretching but not prohibitively so and should create a foundation for Leagues to adapt to internal changes, evolve to meet external challenges, create long-term financial sustainability, and identify, recruit, train and hand responsibility over to successive generations of volunteers.

Berks & Bucks League Governance Code

In line with the other codes, the League Governance Code is split into five sections, with 30 basic criteria falling under:

Management Committee Structure

Management Committee Members

Communication

Standards & Conduct

Policies & Procedures

Leagues have the option to adopt a further 9 criteria to receive the advanced standard, which includes provisions such as term limits for Committee Members.

Leagues interested in applying for the League Governance Code first contact the County FA. The County then provides a suite of online Smartsheet tools to allow the League to complete a self-assessment against the criteria, upload evidence and note any actions required. After reviewing the information, the County awards an initial score and provides feedback on the proposed actions. This process can be repeated as required until compliance has been achieved.

Initial approval lasts for three seasons, before a review is required.

B B And SE Sports Gov Project Of The Year

Launch

The Code was launched at a day-long conference in June 2024 themed around “Progressing the Game’s Governance.” The Conference brought together experts and representatives from both The FA and Berks & Bucks FA to discuss and deliver sessions on best practices in organisational governance, including recruiting and retaining volunteers and the importance of diversity in decision making. The conference was broken into a combination of interactive presentations and panel discussions, fostering a high level of audience engagement. Fourteen delegates representing sixteen of our 29 affiliated Leagues were in attendance.

The day culminated with the launch of the Code, pulling together the other themes discussed across the day. Benefits were focused on the long-term structural advantages, such as increased member confidence and retention of Teams and Players.

Early Impact

We are not in a position to offer significant financial incentives to Leagues for achieving compliance and are reluctant to withhold services from our other members who have not achieved compliance. We have therefore chosen not to make the Code mandatory in this first phase, and Leagues can work through the criteria in their own time to achieve full adoption. We are therefore reliant on Leagues understanding the intrinsic value of the Code and its long-term benefits rather than more immediate incentives or sanctions.

The response from Leagues has largely fallen in line with broader trends for adoption of new initiatives. We have a limited number of early adopters actively working towards achieving the Code, while several others have expressed interest without taking active steps towards completion. Those Leagues keen to adopt the Code are very supportive and keen to progress but have highlighted that changing governing regulations can be a slow process.

To support Leagues in adopting the Code, they are provided individual support and access to online tools to track and assess applications. They also gain access to an extensive library of resources and template documents we have created to support them meet the criteria as well as links to external resources such as Buddle and the SGA to continue embedding effective governance within their League.

Next Steps

We are looking to adopt a similar approach to cascading good governance standards across our Clubs, however with over 550 member Clubs the mechanics will need to be adapted to meet the scale. We have previously established a Club Governance self-assessment tool which allows Clubs to independently RAG rate themselves against similar criteria and provides a list of priorities to address and resources to support them and which we will look to further develop.