6 May 2008
VIDEO: The FA's Vision, 2008-12
FA Chairman Lord Triesman and Chief Executive Brian Barwick explained The FA's Vision for the next four years. 
6 May 2008
VIDEO: The FA's Vision, 2008-12
Brian Barwick talks about The FA's Vision on its launch at Wembley, as local children take part in a Skills session. 

It was warm and sunny day at Wembley on Tuesday as The FA unveiled its plans for the next four years and beyond.

The FA’s Vision 2008-12, was launched by FA Chairman Lord Triesman and Chief Executive Brian Barwick at the Stadium, which is set to become The FA’s new home from next year.

England Manager Fabio Capello, Under-21s Coach Stuart Pearce and England players Joe Cole and Theo Walcott, were also in attendance as Lord Triesman and Barwick set out The FA’s Vision, which includes a series of Major Milestones.

And Barwick, speaking to TheFA.com, believes it was a significant day for the organisation and a fitting place to announce their strategy.

“It’s an important day and I think we’ve laid out the stall for the next four years, and probably way beyond that as well, with some important announcements and some important targets.

“We’ve set ourselves those targets, there’s a book that’ll follow us around, so we have to hit those targets. I think that it shows a confidence in the organisation that we can take these things forward.

He continued: “I think it’s very special to host it here, it’s a beautiful day and it’s great to see kids playing on the pitch. The Stadium looks absolutely spectacular and it has been a part of what The FA has been about in the last decade. It’s now built, it’s now operational and it’s time to move it forward.

“It’ll probably be the only strategic vision I do and the Chairman has been terrific in terms of his contribution in the last three months. This work started around about this time last year, so it’s taken a while but it’s the right way to do it. Once the Chairman came on board he wanted to take it further forward.

“A lot of people have had their say about The FA and also, midway through it, we didn’t qualify for Euro 2008, so that was a stark reminder that we needed to do something about that. Appointing Fabio Capello was a pretty significant move, but we’ve moved it on again since then. We’re in a positive frame of mind.”

One of those milestones is that England’s senior men’s and women’s teams will be regularly qualifying and reaching the Semi-Final stage, at least, of major tournaments.

“I think it’s really important. The FA’s about 101 things, 1001 things, but one of the things it’s genuinely measured by is the performance of the National Team,” explained Barwick. “There’s no escaping that and nor do we want to escape it. We’ve had a long think about how we take things forward and hopefully we’re in a good place."

To back that up, another milestone is that, by 2010, The National Football Centre will open in Burton, while looking even further down the production line, it’s the aim that one million five to eleven year olds will be coached through The FA Tesco Skills programme.

And on the famous pitch on Tuesday, a group of children from Oakington Manor School in Brent were put through their paces by FA Skills Coaches from Middlesex, while others played in a five-a-side game refereed by FA Regional Referee Managers Janie Frampton and Ed Stone.

“We have a real ambition to do that [National Football Centre]. We have a board meeting in early June where we hope to take it forward and get the green light for the whole project.”

He added: “I just think The Skills programme is a phenomenal thing we’ve unearthed. We want one million kids to do this by 2010 and you think we’ve already 440,000-odd through and they seem to enjoy it.

“They get bags of fun out of it and I get letters from parents whose children have been on it and they are thrilled by it.”

To watch the video from Tuesday’s Vision launch or the interview with Brian Barwick, click on the links above. To download The Vision document, click here (pdf)