Tag: football

All Together: Home Nations bid to host FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2035

Scotland’s National Stadium, Hampden Park, and Easter Road Stadium – home of Hibernian Football Club – have been included as proposed venues in the UK’s formal bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2035.

The application, under the banner of ‘All Together’, reflects the partnership of the four countries involved in the proposal.

The bid includes 22 proposed stadiums – 16 in England, three in Wales, two in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland – across 16 host cities. With 63 million people living within two hours of a proposed venue, it would be the most accessible tournament ever.

A joint statement from the four respective CEOs – including the Scottish FA’s Ian Maxwell – said: “Hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup would be a huge privilege for our four home nations. If we are successful, the 2035 tournament will be the biggest single-sport event held on UK soil, with 4.5 million tickets available for fans. 

“We are proud of the growth that we’ve driven in recent years across the women’s and girls’ game but there is still so much more growth to come, and this event will play a key role in helping us deliver that.

“Working together with FIFA, a Women’s World Cup in the UK has the power to turbo-charge the women’s and girls’ game both in the UK and globally. Our bid also demonstrates our commitment to leaving a lasting legacy, in the run-up to 2035, and the years afterwards. 

“Together, we want to welcome the world to the UK to celebrate and enjoy an unforgettable tournament.”

The 22 proposed stadiums offer a blend of heritage, cutting-edge innovation and elite operational excellence that will be ready to deliver exceptional FIFA-compliant facilities. The 16 host cities provide a network of extensive infrastructure, ample accommodation, efficient transportation and culture.

The tournament would involve 104 matches contested by 48 teams over 39 days, with 48 team base camp training sites, 82 venue-specific training sites and 32 FIFA Fan Festival Sites proposed.

Passionate fans, strong media reach and innovative digital engagement not only ensure that this would be a successful tournament, but also provide a transformational commercial opportunity for global growth and reinvestment in the women’s game for the benefit of the wider FIFA family.

The four nations are committed to leaving a lasting legacy that will be delivered via three key pillars:

  • Participation: Increase access locally and worldwide, focusing on under-represented communities.
  • Leadership: Empower women in leadership; double female officials by 2035; and deliver global mentoring and education programmes.
  • Commercial growth: Transform the game’s commercial potential; attract new fans and partners; and reinvest revenues into grassroots and elite pathways.

Scotland Star Takes Aim at the Stigma Around Kids Wearing Goggles in Football

Aston Villa and Scotland star John McGinn is calling for greater awareness and acceptance of children who wear glasses or protective goggles whilst playing football – inspired by his young nephew, Jack. 

McGinn’s now-famous ‘goggles celebration’ began as a personal gesture of support for Jack, who was found to have poor eyesight at the age of four and needs to wear glasses daily, and goggles to play football. 

‘Jack is my first-born nephew, and he was really upset when he had his eyes tested at first,’ McGinn explains. 

‘He didn’t want to be different from the others,’ says John. ‘As a wee bit of support, I said I’d do the goggles celebration. I didn’t manage to score at the Euros, so the first time I did it was a few months later for Aston Villa. He was absolutely over the moon.’ 

What started as a small gesture quickly turned into something much bigger – a movement helping children around the world feel confident wearing their glasses or goggles with pride. 

John – who has just renegotiated his contract with Aston Villa until 2028 – believes playing in the English Premier League has given the celebration a global platform, raising awareness that eyesight challenges shouldn’t prevent children from enjoying sport. 

‘My celebration gave Jack so much confidence to wear the goggles,” John explains. “He now plays for a little club called Glenvale and all his teammates know Jack is the reason why I do the celebration. 

‘It makes him more comfortable to wear them – and for all children with eyesight issues, you shouldn’t be made to feel different.’ 

McGinn says he has been overwhelmed by the global response from parents and young players, receiving messages from across the world thanking him for raising awareness. 

‘I think it’s amazing, I love being able to be a positive role model. Having an impact on so many kids around the world is a huge reason and motivation to do it. For me, it’s a huge part of my game now and something I’ll keep doing for the rest of my career,’ John adds. 

Super John McGinn also highlighted the importance of safety when it comes to protective eyewear in sport. 

‘The risk of a ball hitting a child wearing glasses is huge. Goggles protect their eyes, and with the technology available now, there’s no reason any child should feel uncomfortable wearing them. It’s about safety, comfort, and enjoyment,’ McGinn explains. 

The 31-year-old hopes he can encourage parents to have their children’s eyesight checked regularly – and that more players will help normalise goggles on the pitch. 

He explains that good eyesight is essential in football – being able to see a defender in your peripheral vision or spot a teammate making a run can be the difference in a game. 

‘It’s great to see players like Andrew Tod in the Scottish Championship wearing goggles and doing their own celebration. There should be more positive messages around glasses and goggles,’ says McGinn. 

Jenny Stephenson, chairperson for Specsavers Scotland, says: ‘John’s story is an inspiration to children across the world, and the very reason Specsavers works so closely with the Scottish FA – it underpins everything we do as opticians.’ 

Specsavers is supporting young athletes by offering a discount on prescription sports goggles for club players under the age of 18. The initiative aims to promote safety and confidence by offering 10 percent off goggles. 

Jenny continues: ‘The new sports goggles campaign is about more than vision – it’s about confidence and inclusion. We want young players and their parents to see sports goggles as a normal, affordable and essential part of the game, so no child ever feels held back from playing the sport they love. 

‘Parents can be reassured by Specsavers’ care and expertise, while players can focus on performance – knowing their eyewear is safe, durable and designed for the demands of football.’ 

John concludes: ‘I would encourage everyone to make sure they’re getting their eyes tested as frequently as possible. The earlier you find out about any issues the better.  

‘Hopefully one day Jack’s out there playing at Hampden for Scotland wearing the goggles – that would be the McGinn legacy.’ 

Scottish FA Review of Youth Development in Men’s Football

The Scottish FA has commissioned a review of Youth Development, and specifically the player development pathway, in advance of the publication of a new 10-year strategic plan.

Following the publication of the Transition Report, which looked at innovative ways of maximising game time for young Scottish talent, this latest review provides a detailed look at the fundamental structures within the player development pathway and provides recommendations to better cultivate future talent.

The review was carried out by Chief Football Officer Andy Gould and Chris Docherty, Head of Men’s Elite Strategy. It compares the existing structures within Scottish football to the most successful development strategies in world football and sport.

The key findings are incorporated within three distinct age groups – 0-5, 5-12 and 12-16 – and include:

  • A gradual phasing-out of the Scottish FA’s seven Regional Performance Schools.
  • An overhaul of Club Academy Scotland programme
  • A focus for the national association on cultivating players at the most impressionable ages through an ‘at home’ love of the game.
  • A new approach to government investment in ‘free-to-use’ municipal facilities.
  • An increase in education, mentoring and development opportunities to support all stakeholders involved in player development

Andy Gould, Scottish FA Chief Football Officer: “The Review of Youth Development in Scottish Football looks into global best practice in the development of young talent and examines how we can improve the pathway for our most talented players.

“While this naturally looks at trends within football it also looks at the commonalities between elite talent in other sports, as well as professions such as music and the arts.

“This has been undertaken in the context of how the Scottish football player development pathway has evolved since the launch of the performance strategy more than a decade ago: which initiatives need to be refreshed and updated, and which need to be revisited entirely.

“It’s no secret Scottish football has finite financial resource, so the recommendations have been made on the principle of maximising that resource to deliver the best results for talented young players – in the words of Arsene Wenger ‘to give every talent a chance’.

“The decision to phase-out our Performance Schools is not one that we have taken lightly. Based on our evidence from the review, the national association’s focus should be on the more impressionable age of birth to 12 years old, rather than potentially duplicating or conflicting with clubs’ own development plans.

“Similarly, a country of our size cannot credibly fund 27 academies while we have a well-known and long-standing challenge in seeing academy players graduate to first-team football.

“At present the criteria-based system is not producing top-class players and has become, anecdotally, a tick-box exercise to unlock funding.

“There are various models that exist, and we need to provide a better system for Scottish football, one that helps players maximise and – crucially – realise their potential, but also provides a flexibility of academy structure that clubs can choose based on their resources.

“This review is a commitment to harnessing investment in the right areas – as proven in the case studies we have highlighted. It is also to highlight the importance of looking beyond formal, organised, structured football and looking at a holistic approach in the early years, with emphasis on mastery of the ball and love of the game: founded on a freedom of expression and increasing free-to-play environments.”

The next step is to work with all stakeholders to agree on a new model for Club Academy Scotland, including alternative games programmes, via the Scottish FA Professional Game Board.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Age 0-5:

  • The Scottish FA should look beyond formal, organised activity, and consider how to
    begin a project which targets parents and encourages every child to have access to
    multiple balls at home during infancy.
  • Nationwide education programme for parents on the holistic benefits of engaging their
    children with a ball – this can encompass nursery and primary school age groups.
  • A revised player journey to include consideration to 1v1 prior to established Fun 4s and 4v4 format at early ages.

Age 5-12:

  • Remove mandatory ‘Best v Best’ games programme for elite to reduce travel and
    maximise contact time with the ball.
  • Grassroots & Children’s Education should focus on falling in love with the ball, rather
    than focusing on a games-only approach.
  • ‘Seven Days of Practice’ principle including dual registration system to allow children to
    train and play with professional clubs, grassroots clubs and in school.
  • Children encouraged to master the ball with daily practice and spend hours practicing
    outside of organised football training programmes.
  • Technical “skills clinics” around the country to enhance development along with
    online/YouTube presence to inspire young people.
  • Creating free-to-use “space to play” facilities via building football cages, campaigning
    government to unlock school facilities, and creating access to indoor facilities (school
    gym halls) in winter.
  • Innovative methods to tackle the Relative Age Effect.
  • Develop a Movement Skills Curriculum with video content, to be shared with grassroots
    clubs (for warm-ups) and Primary School teachers (for PE lessons).
  • Consider how to widen and improve the quality of workforce for grassroots football, such as
    developing a deploying young coaches via C Licence Qualification and College & University
    programmes related to sport, who partner with parent volunteers and deliver the Scottish
    FA curriculum to children at Grassroots level.


Age 12-16:

  • Reform Club Academy Scotland programme.
  • Employ experts in youth development, who can work closely with our top academies on an ongoing basis.
  • A strategic approach to the Youth National Team structure, focused on working with a wider group of players for longer, including late developers.
  • Phase out Scottish FA Performance Schools and reallocate resource to new Scottish FA Regional projects.
  • Explore the possibility of a National ‘Full Residential’, with a focus on players not
    selected for academies (such as late maturing players) and those from rural areas.
  • Consider regional elite development centres for children born in the Islands.

The Executive Summary of the review can be read here, with the review in full found here. 

MAN V FAT teams up with Football Rebooted – the sport’s biggest ever environmntal movement

New partnership set to change lives and help the planet

MAN v FAT Football has embarked on an exciting new partnership, having teamed up with Utilita Energy’s Football Rebooted campaign – the beautiful game’s biggest ever environmental movement.

Football Rebooted launched in May 2021 after findings from a Utilita-commissioned report into the combined impact of the pandemic and the cost-of-living-crisis on grassroots football.

The response from fans was immediate and within the first few weeks, thousands of pre-loved football boot donations had flooded in, not only reducing potential landfill but also making a difference to the lives of children and adults in the UK.

MAN v FAT, the UK’s leading men’s weight loss programme, guides over 8,000 men every week on their wellbeing journey – with MAN v FAT Edinburgh meeting up on Thursdays at 6:30pm at Powerleague Portobello. 

Having joined forces with Football Rebooted, the scheme will not only be saving families a few quid but will be reinforcing the importance of upcycling and reusing items that still have a lot of life left in them. 

Pro-pocket, pro-planet 

Sam Cook, Utilita’s Partnerships Marketing Manager, commented on the environmental impact of rehoming boots: “Since its launch in 2021, the Football Rebooted campaign has collected and reallocated thousands of quality football boots, saving hard-pressed families a small fortune and helping to reduce landfill and carbon emissions.

“To put the environmental benefits into context, our aim is to prevent at least a million pairs of boots from ending up in landfill and saving 136,000 tonnes of carbon – the same as taking 7,000 cars off the road for a year.”

Chris Hawkins, Utilita’s West Bromwich Energy Hub Supervisor, helped to instigate the partnership, having recently joined the MAN v FAT Dudley League in May 2025. Chris said: “Given the financial hardship that families are facing, we understand that it may be challenging for people to be able to take part in team sports.  

“The 2025 MAN v FAT National Football Tournament, held at the Lilleshall National Centre, provided a perfect stage to launch the partnership and I was delighted to take along the Football Rebooted collection boxes.

“As a regular MAN v FAT Football competitor, I consider the partnership to be a natural fit as we share so many goals to help adults and youngsters be active, participate and enjoy the physical and mental health benefits of team sport.”

Community focus  

Matt Hudson, Associate Director of Marketing and Partnerships at MAN v FAT Football, commented on the why the weight-loss initiative is supporting the campaign: “The Football Rebooted scheme delivers an extremely fun and unique claim system that avoids any family needing to feel embarrassed at taking second-hand items. 

“If you have any spare or unused football boots, please consider donating and helping us make football accessible to everyone in the local community!

“We’d like to thank our players and their supporters for getting behind the Football Rebooted scheme, which plays a vital role in giving both children and adults the opportunity to take advantage of the physical, mental, and social benefits of playing a sport.”

How can you get involved?

Anyone with a spare pair of football boots (or astroturf boots) should simply give them a clean and drop them off at their local Football Rebooted collection point.

Boots can also be donated at the Edinburgh Utilita Energy Hub – located at 41 Newkirkgate in Leith – keeping them in the local eco-system to ensure they’re re-used. 

Anyone requiring football boots, including individuals and families, can simply reach out to their local collection point to check what sizes are available before coming to collect them.

Schools and clubs in need of football boots can also submit their kit requirements via the Football Rebooted website.

To get a FREE Football Rebooted box and start collecting and redistributing boots within your sports club, school or local community, visit:

www.footballrebooted.co.uk. 

MAN v FAT clubs wishing to take part should contact Matt Hudson via email matt@manvfat.com.

Sports Clubs are back at Craigroyston

Extra-curricular sports clubs are up and running again at Craigroyston!

There are lots of sports on offer including cricket, football, basketball, badminton and swimming. All clubs are free of charge to attend ⚽️🏀🏏🏊🏼‍♂️🏸

For more information on clubs or how to join, speak to Paul Murray (Active Schools Coordinator) in the PE base or email paul.1.murray@ea.edin.sch.uk

Edinburgh football club receives £3,000 boost from local home builder

Persimmon’s donation supports Hutchison Vale’s youth trip to Newcastle and new team kits

Persimmon Homes East Scotland has donated £3,000 to Hutchison Vale Football Club, helping to support one of Edinburgh’s most iconic grassroots football organisations.

The donation, made through Persimmon’s Community Champions initiative, helped fund a recent trip to Newcastle, where the club’s youth teams competed in a football competition, gaining valuable experience and making memories that will last a lifetime. As part of the support, the Persimmon logo will also feature on the 2015 squad’s kit, worn proudly in the club’s traditional yellow and black colours.

Hutchison Vale FC, based at Ford’s Road in Saughton, was originally founded in 1940 to provide footballing opportunities for boys in the Hutchison area and surrounding communities. Now, the club supports 400–500 boys and girls across 20 teams, with players ranging from under 10s to under 20s, along with a thriving Junior Academy for children aged five to eight.

The club has produced more than 30 Scottish international players and countless others who have gone on to play professionally, including Paul Hanlon, Leigh Griffiths, Allan McGregor, Kenny Miller, and John Collins. Other former players include Gregor Townsend, Scotland’s national rugby coach, and rising boxing star Lee McGregor.

Neil Parry, Managing Director of Persimmon Homes East Scotland, said:
“Hutchison Vale has a proud tradition of developing young talent while instilling the values of discipline, teamwork and respect.

“We’re delighted to support their trip to Newcastle and help ensure the next generation continues to benefit from all that the club has to offer.”

Tam Smith, Club Leader, said: “We are very grateful for this generous donation. It will make a huge difference in ensuring our boys have a fantastic experience at their tournament in Newcastle.

“With funding becoming tighter each year, this support is invaluable to our voluntary organisation.”

Persimmon Homes East Scotland donates up to £6,000 every quarter to local organisations and charities through its Community Champions programme, supporting groups that make a real difference in their communities.

To find out more or apply for a Community Champions grant, visit: 

www.persimmonhomes.com/community-champions

BBC ALBA kick off renewed SWPL partnership with champions Hibernian on opening weekend

BBC ALBA is set to feature ScottishPower women’s premier league champions Hibernian this weekend as part of the broadcast partnership extension, as the 2025/26 season gets under way.

The multi-year deal announced last month – funded by BBC ALBA’s partner, MG ALBA – will see the channel continue to bring live coverage of top flight women’s football to viewers across the country until the end of the 2027/28 season, cementing BBC ALBA’s role as the home of the SWPL.

BBC ALBA kicks off its broadcasting schedule with live coverage of Hibs’ opening clash against Aberdeen this Sunday (17 August) as the Edinburgh side launch their bid to defend the league title in their first game of the season. Full match coverage is available from 4pm with Alex O’Henley, live from Edinburgh’s Meadowbank Stadium.

The following weekend (Sunday 24 August), BBC ALBA will feature Rangers’ first home fixture of the campaign when they host Hearts at Ibrox Stadium.

Fiona MacKenzie, BBC ALBA commissioning editor, said: “The broadcast partnership agreement between BBC ALBA and the SWPL reaffirms our strong commitment to showcasing the very best of women’s football, ensuring the continued visibility and growth of the game.

“Women’s football in Scotland has gone from strength to strength and fans all over the country will be excited to see how their favourite teams fare in the 2025/26 SWPL season.”

This year’s SWPL features 10 teams, rather than the previous 12, setting the stage for an even more competitive season as the popularity of women’s football continues to grow. The sport’s rise is reflected in the record-breaking attendance figures at this summer’s UEFA European Championships which attracted as many as 657,291 spectators.

Watch the 2025/26 season action live or on demand on BBC ALBA and BBC iPlayer:

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002hfl4