This weekend, football at every level will unite to promote Play Safe, a national campaign to focus attention on safeguarding. Here Ellie Guedalla and the CCFC Welfare Committee explain more…

What is Play Safe Weekend all about?

This weekend football will hold its third annual Play Safe Weekend (28th/29th September). Play Safe is an attempt to improve the ‘culture of football’ for all. It is an attempt to embed safeguarding and welfare into the norms of the game. 

Welfare, safeguarding and rights and consent will be discussed with players and coaches at clubs and academies across the game. You will see the Play Safe logo at football grounds and pin badges on managers in post-match interviews and on Match of the Day. County FAs will be sending out Play Safe armbands and safeguarding reminders across the football pyramid. Clapton CFC captains will be among those wearing the armband as we did last season.

In 2021 after a long enquiry Clive Sheldon and the NSPCC made a series of recommendations to try to better protect players and participants from all forms of abuse in football. The inquiry was triggered by many ex professional and grassroots players, survivors of sexual abuse in football, speaking out about their experiences and demanding change.

The FA committed to fulfilling all of Sheldon’s recommendations right across the football pyramid from grassroots to the professional game. The recommendations include mandatory welfare and safeguarding protections as well as to utilise safeguarding and welfare to change and improve the ‘culture of football’ to enable it to be safe or safer for all. The aim of all the recommendations is to both reduce the chances of abuse occurring (safeguarding) and reduce the often devastating impact and isolation that follows (welfare).

Abuse is defined as: “physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviours that frighten, intimidate, terrorise, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure, or wound someone.”

This of course encompasses all forms of discrimination which are sadly all too often found in our game.

What is going with the Clapton CFC Welfare Committee?

The 23/24 season was the first where Club Welfare Officers became mandatory in open-age grassroots football. The requirement puts some responsibility on football clubs to better support players’ physical and psychological safety. Like Play Safe it is supported by the PFA (the players’ union), Kick it Out, the FASSSAG and more.

Open-age football is for 16-year-olds and above, so it includes children, both as players and at times officials. We have an extra responsibility for these participants as well as for all players and coaches.

At CCFC we have a welfare committee and 3 trained Club Welfare Officers. Most of our open age teams now also have volunteer player welfare reps. This is a more informal role but is often the first point of contact for players.

What do the welfare committee and welfare officers do?

Safeguarding – Putting guards in place to minimise the risk of all forms of abuse in our club and community. We DBS check those in positions of trust and follow safer recruitment guidelines requesting references etc. We are a point of contact where people can raise concerns and there are Designated Safeguarding officers at the FA to support and guide us if needed.  Anyone in the club can come to us with concerns or queries.

Welfare – We offer support, guidance and signposting primarily to players or coaches who approach us with any concerns or want some support or guidance about any health or welfare concerns.

We are also here to ensure that when people are exposed to inappropriate, damaging or abusive behaviours at football or are just struggling they have a place to go for some support and guidance. We are not judge, jury, executioner, or fixer. We offer support, guidance and solidarity whilst being mindful of our safeguarding responsibilities if action is ever needed.

Since the Sheldon inquiry we have had scandals across the football pyramid in both the men and women’s game. We had the Yates inquiry in the US into abuse in the women’s professional game and then abuse of power on football’s biggest stage exposed the rot inside the Spanish FA. Sadly there has been much more in between in the UK and all around the world. Kick it Out continues to report on racism and homophobia’s prevalence and devastating impact and we recently had the WiF report into sexism in our not always so beautiful game. Our players and participants all need protection as well as celebration as society’s problems all play out in football and our beloved club is not immune.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility

All CCFC members are signatories of the accountability agreement.

If you have some time and experience to volunteer with the welfare committee please get in touch. We are all volunteers and would really appreciate it.

If you have a safeguarding or welfare concern, or would like some advice, please contact welfare-club@claptoncfc.co.uk

Alternatively, you can contact the FA Safeguarding team on 0844 980 820.

If you are a player you can reach out to directly to the PFA survivor support service