The RAF FA has achieved The FA’s Code of Governance for County Football Associations.

The RAF FA evidenced full compliance with the regional Code of Governance which sets a higher precedent than the current gold standard for sport and aims to provide support and guidance to those running the grassroots game up and down the country. 

In January 2020, The FA became the first national governing body in English sport to introduce a regional Code of Governance, with a number of other sports now following the model which has been endorsed by Sport England. The Code itself represents a ‘Gold Standard’ of governance, made up of 65 requirements based on Sport England and UK Sport’s Code for Sports Governance.

The requirements within the code means each County FA can assess their current practices against the highest standard of corporate governance in football, supporting their development and ensuring they have the structures, functional operations and decision-making processes in place to offer the best possible service to the game at a local level. The code also includes provisions for gender diversity, ethnic diversity and youth representation across the County FA network. 

All 50 CFAs have self-assessed against the Code and are committed to improving their governance, with the RAF FA becoming the latest (15^th) to be awarded with the County FA Code of Compliance logo, which can be used on County FA external and internal communications channels. 

AVM Rich Pratley, Chairman at the RAF FA said: “When the Board committed to meeting the FAs Code of Governance some 2 years ago we did so knowing that it would be a major undertaking and that the journey would ultimately improve how we operate. To meet the modern-day challenges of football across the military we need effective governance. To become compliant we have undertaken many changes including new Articles of Association, the appointment of 3 Independent Non-Executive Directors, various new policies and procedures and much more diversity and inclusion. As the RAFs biggest participating sport we have always tried to lead the way with governance and this achievement is a key milestone for the Association. My thanks to everyone involved for their hard work, we will continue to build on this”.          

Tim Foster, Head of Operations at The FA, said:  “As the national sport that millions of people play and support across the country, it’s vitally important that The FA and the County FAs serve and lead the game as effectively as possible. Through this Code of Governance for County FAs, we have set out how they can enhance their governance at county level and ultimately deliver an even better service to their communities. I’d like to congratulate the RAF FA in becoming fully compliant and look forward to seeing many other County FAs achieve this same standard as their ongoing work progresses.” 

For further information on the Code of Governance for County FAs, please see here.