NOVEMBER 7 - 13, 2013 T H E V O I C E ! 43
FA 150th ANNIVERSARY FEATURE Alex Horne, General Secretary of The FA:
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HE LAST 12 months has seen the football family united for The FA’s 150th anniversary year and we’re delighted to be a part of The Voice’s special commemorative supplement that celebrates black achievement across the beautiful game. We have had numerous FA150 highlights throughout the year. From our star-studded launch event in January featuring former England stars Sol Campbell and Alan Shearer alongside international greats Lothar Matthaus and Marcel Desailly, it has proved a tremendous year. It all culminated in our Gala Dinner on October 26 that saw HRH The Duke of Cambridge, Michel Platini and Joseph S. Blatter paying tribute to foot-
COMMITTED: The FA’s General Secretary, Alex Horne
ball in this country. Earlier that month, Troy Townsend and his peers were honoured at our 150 Grassroots Heroes event at Buckingham Palace. This followed on from the Sir Bobby Robson National Football Day in August which saw all levels of the game come together to
TRIO: Troy Townsend and June Kelly pose with England manager Roy Hodgson at last month’s Gala Dinner
remember a legend and support the grassroots game in England. There was also the small matter of Roy Hodgson leading England to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil as group winners, meaning a fantastic summer of football is in store for Three Lions fans next year.
England’s women, captained by Alex Scott, signed off the year with four wins from four on the road to 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification in a year when Rachel Yankey became the most capped player in both the men’s and women’s game. The black community has played a huge part in English football history and we are proud to remember Laurie Cunningham and Viv Anderson as the first black players to represent England Under-21s and England seniors respectively.
CAPTIVATED Staying with England Under-21s and our current
squad were captivated by a talk on combating racism from Cyrille Regis and Garth Crooks as The FA recognised the 20th anniversary of Kick It Out at St. George’s Park. Let’s hope that Andros Townsend, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott have the same impact as those legends of the game on a new generation of youngsters in the years to come. While The FA has been looking back on 150 years throughout 2013 – with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain the brilliant voice behind The FA’s official history film used across the year - we remain committed to building a positive future and that means football for everyone.
Along with the Premier League, Football League, LMA and PFA, we have recognised that there’s a lack of black and Asian coaches coming through the ranks at club level so our COACH programme, led by Brendon Batson, is helping talented individuals to get on the coaching pathway. You can read more about COACH in this supplement. This year has also seen The FA working towards the delivery of an Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination plan which reflects a collective effort by the whole game to ensure football is inclusive. The Voice does a fantastic job in representing the black community in England and The FA looks forward to working with the newspaper throughout 2014 and beyond.
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