Backing from FA's Brooking

Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA Director of Football Development, has backed MMU’s GUBOG campaign to revolutionise football coaching for England’s youngsters.

The Give Us Back Our Game campaign, which seeks to put the fun back into football and improve skills levels among England’s young players, was highlighted in the national media in January with the Daily Telegraph leading the calls for the FA to back it.

Sir Trevor said it was important that coaches and parents put enjoyment at the heart of junior football and focussed above all on skills, but he stopped short of promising to intervene in the structure of junior leagues.

GUBOG wants an end to regimented 7-a-side competition for children as young as six and 11-a-side for children aged 10, claiming it stifles their development in the ‘Golden Age of Learning’.

Pushy parents

The campaign launched out of MMU’s Department of Sport and Exercise Science with coaches across the country, advocates four-a-side with children playing almost entirely without the interference of "pushy parents" and "militaristic coaches".

Sir Trevor, writing in the Telegraph says: "GUBOG mirrors the FA's ethos in putting enjoyment at the heart of the football experience. We welcome such initiatives and have been in contact with the campaign in recent weeks.

"Anyone taking a weekend tour around the parks and playing fields of England will witness parents and other spectators haranguing the referee, the opposing team and their own sons and daughters.

"As well as creating a climate of abuse, this negative pressure can severely hamper a child's development. Rather than encouraging young players to be patient in possession of the ball, it encourages a "minimum risk", kick-and-hope approach. Unless this culture is changed, we will continue to slip behind."

'Not FA's fault'

However, the FA did not, he said, advocate one particular format: "The Mini Soccer structure allows flexibility for local leagues to play 4v4, 5v5, 6v6 or 7v7, and he said: “rules prevent 11v11 matches until the Under-11 age group."

The GUBOG campaigners have organised a mass day of protest for football clubs on June 4 when hundreds will play 4v4 unrefereed tournaments.

Rick Fenoglio, a coaching researcher at MMU Cheshire, has conducted a series of studies with Manchester United and other clubs, which show a clear correlation between self-expression and small-sides games and skill and teamplay levels.

For more information about Give Us Back Our Game, contact Rick Fenoglio on 0161 247 5450 r.fenoglio@mmu.ac.uk or go to http://s181210699.websitehome.co.uk/index.html