Sheffield and Hallamshire County FA has become the first County Football Association in England to achieve version 2.1 – the highest standard – of the FA’s Code of Governance for County Football Associations.

The County FA evidenced full compliance with the Code of Governance, which sets a higher precedent than the current gold standard for sport and aims to provide support and guidance to those running the grassroots game up and down the country.

A plaque was presented at a presentation ceremony last week at Sheffield and Hallamshire County FA’s Head Office, with members of the Association's Board in attendance to celebrate the landmark achievement.

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From left to right: Des Smith, SHCFA Board Safety and Welfare Champion; Simon Frost, SHCFA General Manager; Martin Gilmour, SHCFA Trustee; Brian Coddington, SHCFA Chair; Tim Foster, Head of Operations at The FA; Rachel Habergham, SHCFA Chair of the Inclusion Advisory Group Trustee; Ian Vaines, SHCFA Trustee.

In January 2020, The FA became the first national governing body in English sport to introduce a Code of Governance, with a number of other sports now following the model which has been endorsed by Sport England. The Code itself represents a ‘Gold Standard’ of governance, made up of 65 requirements based on Sport England and UK Sport’s Code for Sports Governance.

The requirements within the code means each County FA can assess their current practices against the highest standard of corporate governance in football, supporting their development and ensuring they have the structures, functional operations and decision-making processes in place to offer the best possible service to the game at a local level. The code also includes provisions for gender diversity, ethnic diversity and youth representation across the County FA network.

All 50 CFAs have self-assessed against the Code and are committed to improving their governance, with the Sheffield and Hallamshire County FA becoming the latest to be awarded with the County FA Code of Compliance logo, which can be used on County FA external and internal communications channels.

Brian Coddington, Sheffield and Hallamshire County FA Chair said: “We’re extremely proud to be the first County FA to achieve version 2.1 of the FA’s Code of Governance for County FAs.

“Good governance is at the heart of our organisation, and achieving the highest standard of corporate governance in football is a significant landmark in our County FA’s long and decorated history.

“This couldn’t have been achieved without the hard work and dedication carried out by our staff, board and council members. Thank you for ensuring we govern ourselves to the very highest standards and provide the best service we can to our members to change lives through football.”

Tim Foster, Head of Operations at The FA, added: “As the national sport that millions of people play and support across the country, it’s vitally important that The FA and the County FAs serve and lead the game as effectively as possible.

"Through this Code of Governance for County FAs, we have set out how they can enhance their governance at county level and ultimately deliver an even better service to their communities. I’d like to congratulate Sheffield and Hallamshire County FA in becoming fully compliant and look forward to seeing many other County FAs achieve this same standard as their ongoing work progresses.”

For more information on our Code of Governance, please see here.