No Welfare Officer, no 2008/09 affiliation
Don’t risk it. Let’s make football safe - not sorry

If your league or club runs under-18 teams, a Welfare Officer MUST be in place to affiliate for the 2008-09 season.

That also means completing an FA Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) application on the Officer, which must have been accepted or in progress at the point of affiliation.

Making an appointment is not a huge job. Once in place, your County FA provides full training and offers ongoing guidance, advice and sharing of best practice.

So don’t risk your league or club losing their affiliation – if you haven’t started already, start taking steps today to get a Welfare Officer in place.

This booklet answers commonly-asked questions, outlines what the role involves, the type of people who might be interested – perhaps you – and where to get further advice.

We’ll support you all the way – but we need you to make the first move.

What does a Welfare Officer do?

He or she has two fundamental roles:

  1. Taking the lead in being informed and aware of the league or club’s responsibilities when running football activities for children and young people. This involves:
    • Ensuring these responsibilities are well-understood by others
    • Developing best-practice processes
  2. Helping league and club personnel understand what their ‘duty of care’ towards children and young people actually means and entails on a day-to-day basis. For example:
    • Ensuring all relevant people complete The FA’s ‘Safeguarding Children’ training programme
    • Helping to make sure trips away are organised properly
    • Assisting those with regular contact with children and young people to complete the FA CRB paperwork

What type of person makes a good Welfare Officer?

Someone who:

  • Always puts children’s welfare first
  • Is a good communicator
  • Has a common-sense approach
  • Is willing to learn and seek advice
  • Is over the age of 18

Do they need qualifications?

They don’t need to have a professional background in safeguarding children, but they do need:

  • To go through The FA’s three-hour ‘Safeguarding Children’ Workshop and specific three-hour Welfare Officer training.
  • To have an FA CRB Enhanced Disclosure in place

Is there anyone who can’t become a Welfare Officer?

Anyone with a significant criminal history. Contact your County FA Welfare Officer for more information about what this means and/or read the ‘CRB: Frequently-asked questions’ section at www.TheFA.com/footballsafe

Can more than one person take on the role?

Yes – we welcome this in clubs/league with large numbers of teams. Why not get two or three people to share the responsibilities, learn together and support each other?
It’s also good to have a male and female Welfare Officer if you have both boys’ and girls’ teams.
However, The FA only needs one named person for its main database, so we can communicate effectively through one person in every league and club.

What happens if we don’t put a Welfare Officer in place?

You won’t be able to affiliate your league or club for the 2008-09 season. This mandate/policy is in place in every County Association in England.

Why would anyone – perhaps me – want to become a Welfare Officer?

  • You want children/youngsters to be safe and have fun
  • You can see a number of ways the league or club could be improved
  • You feel a bit more planning would make a huge difference
  • You don’t fancy coaching, but you want to support your child’s club
  • You love working with young people and are willing to learn
  • You have just the right skills
  • Someone has to – you need to affiliate

Why is it so important?

Because football has a clear responsibility towards young people. As we all know, there have been some tragic cases resulting from the wrong type of people working with children, both in wider society and within football.

Making sure everyone knows how to report concerns about a child’s welfare is essential. Knowing how to deal with poor practice issues is also vital.

Lots can be done very simply – but football needs Welfare Officers, and now.

How do I find out more?

  • www.TheFA.com/footballsafe Read the downloads in the ‘Designated Persons’ section or go to the Welfare Officer FAQs
  • Contact your County FA Welfare Officer: There’s full list of contact names/number for every County FA at www.TheFA.com/CountyContacts. Or call The FA on 0207 745 4545
  • Speak to other leagues or clubs who already have a Welfare Officer
  • For specific questions, send an email

Support is close at hand

Through County FAs

Nearly every County FA has now appointed a County Welfare Officer who can provide guidance and advice on all sorts of issues and help create a local network of Welfare Officers.

At The FA’s website

www.TheFA.com/footballsafe contains The FA’s Safeguarding Children policies, procedures and best-practice guidance. It also has a downloadable standard safeguarding children policy and useful guidance on travel, trips and tournaments, photography guidelines and information for parents.

Through Welfare Officer networks

We are currently building local networks of Welfare Officers across the country to provide general updates, share ideas and discuss current challenges and how to resolve them. There are thousands of helpful people helping make football safe – not sorry.

The Football Association
25 Soho Square
London
W1D 4FA

Telephone
+44 (0)20 7745 4545

Facsimile
+44 (0)20 7745 4546

Request information by email

Visit www.TheFA.com

Safeguarding Children Education and CRB Enquiries

E-mail

Telephone
0845 210 8080

To download this article, click here (PDF).