The country's most passionate advocates of grassroots football descend on St George’s Park this weekend for the annual FA Grassroots Adult Leagues Conference.
Up to a thousand senior figures within the National Game including board chairman Roger Burden, director of the National Game and Women's Football Kelly Simmons will be on hand to discuss all aspects of grassroots football.
Simmons said: “The sheer scale of grassroots football is immense.
"We are delighted that participation is again on the up once again – with more than eight million adults enjoying the game in some form.
The annual FA Grassroots Adult Leagues Conference takes place at St. George's Park this weekend
“This weekend presents an opportunity to hear directly from some of the most impassioned among them – a cross section of the 600,000 individuals across 600 affiliated leagues."
FA research published in January highlighted the changing face of football.
Average squad sizes have increased from 18 to 24 players as it becomes more challenging for clubs to field teams amid a myriad of conflicting demands placed on the modern grassroots footballer.
More than 600,000 people play grassroots football in England every week
“As an organisation we are responding to the changing needs of the grassroots football," Simmons continued.
"Our Chairman, Greg Dyke is passionate about addressing this.
"His ground-breaking plans to transform grassroots facilities including the creation of 150 football hubs across 30 cities is already starting to take shape."
Conference organiser, Dermot Collins added: “For many years it was an area of football that looked after itself but participation trends are changing.
"Few other countries have such a broad base of participation and this weekend we a great platform to share ideas and learn from those closest to the game.”
