• Complaints Procedure:

Please take a moment to look over the visual guide below and share it within your club communities. This is a simple breakdown of the processes that are followed when we receive a complaint or a concern. As always, if you have any questions, please get in touch with Danielle at the HFA.

• Transition from Wholegame to Platform for Football (PFF)(Club Portal):

You will be aware that the FA are currently transitioning from Wholegame to the Platform for Football system. The aim is that by the end of this season the Wholegame system will cease to exist in its current form and all club information in terms of club officials, players, affiliations, safeguarding and DBS should be completed through the Club Portal. During this transition period there have been and are currently some issues with regards to initiating DBS renewals. We are awaiting further guidance on how to go about this. If you are having issues and a DBS renewal of a club official is time sensitive please get in touch with Danielle at the HFA who will be able to support you with this.

Follow this link for more information and guidance on how to add officials through the portal and initiate a DBS for new applicants.

Video guidance can also be found here directly from the FA DBS Support Page.

• Validation visits:

Unannounced club visits are an effective way for us to see and experience our clubs ‘in action’. These are usually positive in terms of our interactions with players, parents/guardians and club officials. This is just a quick reminder that clubs will be picked at random, and members of the HFA board and team will visit a training session or two.

Smokefree Sidelines

We worked with Wessington Juniors who hosted a soft launch of our much- anticipated Smokefree Sidelines campaign. It was a great morning which was a wonderful advert for children’s grassroots football in our county. Parents and spectators were all very supportive of the campaign and were keen to be part of it in sharing the message.

A massive thank you to all of our clubs who have signed up to be part of this campaign (please see below) – please remember to come and collect your marketing materials from the HFA offices as soon as possible as we will be looking to launch county wide in early February. More information to follow.

Online  Safety  Awareness

Following the positive feedback received from attendees of the most recent CPD event hosted by West Mercia Police Child Protection Unit I am sharing a link to a session of similar content that can be shared with your club officials and parents. Given the pace of change of the ‘online world’ and how engaged our children are with it, from an ever-younger age, it is important that we endeavour to keep ourselves as up to date as possible so that we can limit the potential risks facing our youngsters.

Children’s  Voice – ‘Youth  Champions’

As we endeavour to keep evolving how we ensure that our youth players can share their thoughts and ideas on how football can develop in a positive way within the county we are keen to get our new initiative up and running. We would like to invite one or two players from each club, aged 14-18, to have the opportunity to get together, chat, share experiences and ideas in an informal setting. The initial get together will be held at the HFA building and be facilitated by members of our team. Weather permitting, team building games will be played on the 3G pitch and food/drink will be provided. There will also be an opportunity for all attendees and a parent/guardian to attend a Hereford FC game following the session. More information will be sent out to clubs early next week.

Dates  for  your  diaries:

Safer Internet Day (SID) – 11th Feb

https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2025

Please follow this link for more information. The FA are once again supporting this important campaign and will be sharing some resources in the coming weeks. These will be shared with our clubs for you to publish on your websites and social media channels should you wish to.

CPD events:

Feb 12th Female coaches’ workshop – Venue: Lads Club – Time: 6.30pm Feb 24th How to engage with 12–16-year-olds – Venue: HFA – Time: 6.30pm

Registration  required,  please  contact  George  at  the  HFA  for  more information.

CWO CPD – Dates TBC

Thanks for your ongoing support!