THE FA CLUB LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME
The FA Club Leadership Programme aims to provide club leaders with the tools, knowledge and networking opportunities to make their club and them thrive, applying modern sports models and thinking to large community clubs, including Men’s National League System and Women’s National League clubs.
Course Information
Start Date:
January 2026End Date:
July 2026Delivery:
BlendedWhat you’ll study
Programme Overview
The programme provides you with applied learning, expert insight and peer connection.
Through blended online learning, online discussion groups and a national face to face event, you will develop practical skills that will make a tangible difference in your club.
Ranging from creating a long-term vision, embedding a positive culture, developing effective Boards or Committees, to succession planning, understanding financial risk, the course will help you tackle your biggest challenges and build a lasting legacy for the club and yourself.
Programme Objectives
Support Club Growth & Sustainability
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Equip club leaders with essential knowledge in the art of club strategy, creating effective structures and people, developing effective stakeholder relationships to future-proof their club for future generations.
Elevate Leadership Capabilities
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Build the strategic capabilities of club leaders to enable long-term thinking, sustainability, succession planning and empowering others so they can focus on the future of the club.
Enable Practical Impact
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Utilise tools and models to implement practical and effective change at their club. Collaborate with subject matter experts together with the knowledge and experience of your peers to address your biggest challenges and achieve deliverable solutions.
How you’ll study
Programme Model
The programme recognises the busy lives of club leaders and is designed to fit around your busy lives using a flexible, blended learning model that is accessible when you are.
Learning combines online delivery with opportunities to connect with your peers to ensure a real-world application and culminates in a face-to-face showcase event at St George’s Park, The National Football Centre.
Learning and input from leaders will be retained throughout your time on the programme to create a final leadership portfolio, capturing your thoughts and ideas.
Programme Delivery
Designed with flexibility at its core – the FA Club Leadership Programme offers approximately 20 hours of guided learning supported by 5 hours of tutor led peer to peer support.
Leaders will be able to select peer groups based on their experience and club status.
A final showcase event celebrating the success of the leaders’ accomplishments will combine some masterclass sessions with the opportunity to network with peers at St George’s Park on Saturday 4th July 2026.
You can engage with content at your own pace, choosing when and how to complete the five modules based on personal schedules and club commitments.
Start Date: January 2026
End Date: July 2026
Total Learning Time: 20 hours per level of study
Format: Blended – online learning with in-person FA regional events
Tutor Support: Optional 5 hours of peer to peer support
Is this the Programme for me?
This programme is designed for strategic leaders working in football. You will be a strong fit for this course if you meet the following criteria:
- You hold a role of Chair, Vice Chair, General Manager, or CEO
- You hold a role at a NLS Club, WNL Club, 3* Accredited Club
If this isn’t right for you, we are currently developing additional Football Leadership Programmes to support leaders at all levels across the game.
For more information, click the links below.
Modules
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.
Assessment & Recognition
You will complete practical tasks per module with feedback delivered online. An optional final project will also be available for those who wish to focus on a specific area of learning in more detail.
Those who successfully complete the programme will receive a Certificate of Completion endorsed by The FA and UCFB. It is our ambition that this can be accredited by the Charted Institute of Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).
Graduates of the programme will also have the opportunity to progress on to further learning delivered by UCFB’s broader education pathways, including undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education courses.
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