WITH this being an election year its an ideal time to discuss the state of the grassroots game and what I believe is the best way to improve it for future generations, but before I start I would like to applaud the tireless efforts of people like Kenny Saunders with his ‘Save Grassroots’ campaign which has been running for two years now and has made a real difference.

I don’t agree with everything he has stated but nobody can take away his sheer determination to improve the infrastructure for all and I certainly wish him every success with his campaign.

I have said before the grassroots infrastructure is in my opinion in the best state in my lifetime and although a long way to go, it is certainly going in the right direction with more emphasis on developing better, more informed coaches, referees and spectators.

Now the pressure to improve facilities is starting to have an effect with political parties taking notice of the grassroots community and, for the first time, are actually mentioning it in their manifestos.

This is a long way from the dark days of the 1970s and 80s when the decline of grassroots football started to take hold and it was only the development of mini soccer leagues in the mid to late 90s that started to redress that downward spiral.

Mini soccer leagues built from the ground up with U7s to U10s being the focus for development and for the BBDFL. we are reaching the end of that long journey as we move to adding an U21s league to our portfolio in September 2015so we can make a pathway into the adult game.

Clubs ask me regularly, how do you build a vibrant grassroots football club and each time I respond that, you invest time and effort in your nursery and youngest age groups as they are the lifeblood of your club. That includes putting your best, most qualified coaches on these age groups in order that they may have the best start to their involvement in the game.

In my opinion, for too long this country has tried to do things from the top down, hoping that this would stimulate investment or benefit below, so in essence putting the roof on before they have built the foundations.

My vision is that each of our club in our league, of which there are over 100, will either own or manage its own facilities in the next 20 years and build a community infrastructure around those facilities, which includes school, college and university partnerships, in order that the grassroots game can flourish, but and those communities can too.