The Jersey Football Association has launched its new four-year Business Strategy (2024- 28), outlining a bold and ambitious vision for the future of football in the island.

The strategy is focused on growing the game and improving the experience for participants, with five core areas:

• Improving playing choice and opportunities
• Delivering equal opportunities for women and girls to play
• Building more, and improving existing, facilities
• Tackling poor behaviour in the game
• Developing a valued network of volunteers, coaches and referees

At the heart of the strategy is a major commitment to women’s and girls’ football, with the aim of ensuring 75% of clubs have a women’s or girls’ team by 2028. This significant increase reflects the Association’s focus on growing participation and ensuring football is accessible and inclusive.

There are also plans to further strengthen support for local football development, improve the availability of training facilities, and reduce the number of matches postponed in bad weather, with the requirement for two new 3G artificial pitches by 2028.

The strategy also highlights the JFA’s dedication to enhancing community wellbeing. By 2028, the Association aims to become the leading charity in the island for reducing social isolation, using football as a powerful tool to foster connection, and to support vulnerable islanders.

VIEW JERSEY FA 2024-2028 STRATEGY

Jimmy Kelly, Chairman of the Jersey FA Board, said: “This strategy reflects our commitment to making our sport more inclusive, particularly for women and girls, and to champion further investment into sports facilities and infrastructure that will benefit the wider community.

“It’s already been a season of significant change for the Jersey Football Association, in the office, at Board level and out on the pitch, and it’s therefore the perfect time to clearly lay out where our focus will be.

“The strategy, which was recently approved by the FA at Wembley, is big and bold and I’m excited to see it unfold and become a reality over the next four years.”

Tiff Sundby, Jersey player, added: “I am pleased to see an ambitious plan to deliver more opportunities for women and girls.

“If these targets are met, the female game will be in a really strong place for our island.”

Tim Pryor, Chief Executive Officer of the Jersey FA, said: “We’re incredibly proud to unveil our strategy that’ll act as a blueprint for our work through until 2028. This really further focuses the mind and provides the JFA team a clear way forward that we can all buy into.

“We’re intent on working more closely with local clubs to help them flourish, and better supporting the network of referees and volunteers that put so many hours into the game.

“I’m thankful to colleagues who have also put in many hours to develop an easy-to- understand strategy that will shape our work for years to come. If, or should I say ‘when’, we achieve the targets of the strategy we’ll have taken football to an even more elevated position within the island.”