The FA: Respect The Standard

In partnership with England Football, we brought to life the stories behind ten grassroots organisations championing The FA’s Respect the Standard behaviour strategy.

During the first half of 2025, Goal Click worked with grassroots storytellers across England to highlight how clubs promote positive behaviour through the five pillars of The FA’s Respect the Standard.

These stories, shared through first-person perspective, showcased volunteer-driven campaigns, inclusive coaching practices, and creative approaches to building respectful environments.

The storytellers came from a wide range of backgrounds, including mental health initiatives, refugee communities, walking football groups, and women's teams. This diversity underscored the strength of the grassroots game and the importance of empowering local voices to tell their own stories.

Released across Instagram collaboration posts with England Football and hosted on Goal Click’s website, the ten-part video series was viewed by over 76,000 people – a strong result for hyper-local content rooted in small community clubs. The videos generated nearly 2,000 interactions and over 130 hours of watch time, while clubs like Saving Souls FC, Changing Lives FC, Leicester Nirvana, and Zingers & Wingers used the project as a springboard for future plans and deeper community engagement.

Importantly, the process itself became part of the impact. Many of the storytellers had never previously had the opportunity or confidence to share their stories. By the end of the project, every participant felt supported and empowered, with most expressing new confidence in their storytelling abilities.

Through this collaboration, Goal Click and The FA showcased what positive behaviour looks like to grassroots clubs and organisations across England, whilst ensuring the participating grassroots clubs felt seen and celebrated for their efforts.

Click here to explore the full storytelling series.