This module helps senior leaders step into visionary thinking. Participants will learn how to align club strategy with the wider game, prepare succession plans, and use scenario planning to future-proof their organisations.

Learning Outcomes:

• Defining a long-term vision, and how to embed the vision through a positive culture.
• Explore how a club vision can be abled through club structures and business planning.
• Discover what tools are available to communicate and embed a vision and culture.
• Retaining a positive club culture whilst planning & experiencing growth.

Activities:

• Visioning exercises on the future state of the club and game.
• Scenario planning workshop.
• Peer discussions on succession planning. The good, the bad and the ugly.

FA Strategic Plan Alignment: Supports the FA’s priority on leadership and sustainability in club operations.

Here, participants examine governance in depth. They will explore how to run transparent boards, handle risk registers and ensure safeguarding across large club networks. Practical tools will be shared for strategic risk oversight.

Learning Outcomes:

• Creating effective Boards and Committees.
• The art of delegation and how to empower others.
• Creating an effective succession plan for the club and you.
• Implementing effective conflict resolution strategies.
• How to oversee risk management and compliance.

Activities:

• Interactive case study on governance challenges, and prescribed solutions.
• Risk register development.
• Boardroom role play exercise and review of successful board structure models.

FA Strategic Plan Alignment: Supports The FA’s safeguarding, governance and compliance agenda, and HR and legal responsibilities.

This session enables leaders to think bigger in a financial context. They will explore facility hire (and build developments), major sponsorships and partnerships to diversify income. The module also covers financial risk management and how to build resilience through reserves and investment planning.

Learning Outcomes:

• Diversify income streams for large clubs, for club development and growth.
• Developing effective financial risk management processes and measures.
• Creating reserves policies and investment strategies for long term projects.

Activities:

• Case study analysis of sustainable funding.
• Drafting a reserves policy.
• Exploring partnerships dynamics and stakeholder mapping.

FA Strategic Plan Alignment: Aligns with The FA’s financial sustainability goals.

This module examines how strategic leaders can build inclusive and powerful collectives. Leaders will explore methods for engaging underrepresented groups, diversifying leadership, and driving regional collaboration.

Learning Outcomes:

• Creating inclusive leadership environments.
• How to harness volunteer power at significant scale and generate personal value.
• Foster strong community action and links with key stakeholders.
• Understand partnership dynamics through stakeholder mapping and reporting.

Activities:

• Design inclusive leadership plans.
• Volunteer mapping and engagement planning.
• Mapping stakeholder influence and designing outreach projects.

FA Strategic Plan Alignment: Delivers on the FA’s commitments to inclusion, diversity and equality in football.

The final module seeks to combine identity and leadership behaviours. It explores how clubs can define and sustain a strong legacy identity, while also handling the most complex and sensitive conversations, from mergers to crises, with integrity and authority.

Learning Outcomes:

• Define and sustain a strong legacy identity for you and your club.
• Develop a legacy identity through values and symbols and explore emotional intelligence.
• Manage major disputes, crises and sensitive club wide issues.
• How to protect the long-term reputation of the club.

Activities:

• Designing a legacy statement.
• Crisis communication planning and execution.
• Protecting reputation during dispute.

FA Strategic Plan Alignment: Supports The FA’s goal of building sustainable, values-driven clubs.

The club leadership programme, developed in partnership between UCFB and The Football Association, aims to transform leadership within England’s most progressive community football clubs. It provides participants with knowledge, skills and behaviours which will help build leadership capacity, support club sustainability, promote inclusivity, and enable practical, immediate impact at club level.

The programme has been developed to support leaders within clubs, across a variety of different roles and levels of the game. The first cohort (starting in January 2026) is aimed at individuals who are currently in strategic leadership roles within clubs (see FAQ 3, below), later cohorts will be more beneficial to individuals who are currently in operational roles within clubs and to individuals who may not currently be actively involved in club operations and / or management, but have aspirations to do so in the future.

Participants must be in the role of Chair, Vice-Chair, CEO, General Manager or Secretary at a club that is either:

• In Steps 3-6 of the Men’s National League System
• In Tiers 3-4 of the Women’s Football Pyramid
• An England Football Accredited 3-star Club playing at any level

We know there is a huge appetite from club leaders across the landscape to participate in this new club leadership programme. The first modules for the inaugural cohort of this programme are aimed at Strategic Leaders in Clubs and will be suited to existing leaders in the roles outlined in FAQ 3.

There will be future opportunities to participate in the Club Leadership Programme and these modules at an appropriate time.

To manage the programme effectively and to maximise the impact it has on those who participate, we have capped the number of candidates in the first cohort.

• Module 1: Leading the Game; Strategic Thinking, Vision and Club Culture
• Module 2: Leading the Club; Creating Effective Governance, Structures and People
• Module 3: Financing the Future; Financial Management and Planning for the Future
• Module 4: Creating Effective Partnerships; Leadership and Community Action
• Module 5: Building a Legacy; Using the Club Badge and Brand for Long-Term Success

The programme will be delivered through online learning, with content available on demand at the request of the learner.

Each module should take no longer than 4 hours of to complete. Each module will be supported by an optional tutor led drop-in session, lasting approximately 1 hour. The drop-in sessions will enable participants to share experiences, best practice and knowledge with others on the course. The full programme will therefore take approximately 25 hours to complete.

Modules & content will be released monthly starting from 27^th January 2026.  This will ensure participants have time to complete each section of the programme. Participants will receive an email to notify them when new modules & content is released.

Upon signing up to the programme, candidates will be asked to select whether they would like to join specific cohorts through which there will be opportunity to network and learn together, during the programme. The first cohort of the programme will also culminate in a celebration & programme showcase event which will take place at St George’s Park on Saturday 4^th July 2026; all learners participating in the first cohort of the programme will be invited to attend this event.

Activities completed through each module will be captured and presented as a project portfolio at the end of the course. The portfolio will evidence the learning that participants have completed and will enable club leaders to utilise its contents within their own clubs.

The club leadership programme is fully funded by The FA, there is no cost to the participant.

As individuals in specific roles at specific clubs have been targeted for the first cohort of the programme, they have all received a direct email inviting them to express their interest in participating. Details of how to access to the learning platform will be sent to leaders who expressed their interest in participating in the first cohort of the programme when the first content goes live, on 27^th January 2026.

To participate in the first cohort of the programme, the last day to create your account on the learner system is 15th February 2026. If you haven’t created your account on or before 15th February, you will be unable to participate in this first cohort of the programme (starting this month and completing in July 2026).

Please visit the website linked to below, for further information about the club leadership programme and to express your interest in participating in a future cohort.