It remains true that one of the biggest questions around a football club’s identity is “why do I need it?” Some people say they’ve been running a club for 20 years already, so ask why do they need to think about this now.
The fact is, identity helps you to uncover both opportunities within your club, and identify how to deal with current challenges. Identity can help clubs find new ways of doing things and can be the difference between a club folding or finding a new structure to keep the club going.
Identity is the heart of everything.
It’s not just a statement. It impacts your financial decisions, your marketing, governance, and the way you run your community.
Identity helps you to structure your goals. Part of the process is getting people to challenge their existing identity and ask, who do they really want to be and what do they honestly want to achieve? Then, how can they achieve this?
A good example is a club which was struggling to hang on to its volunteers. They didn’t have a clear identity. But by taking a step back and looking at the wider picture, an opportunity to merge with a club down the road, pool their resources, and keep both clubs running has provided a great solution.
So how can your club get started on creating a meaningful identity?
Use the Club Consultant network, and the resources online from England Football.
Look at other clubs doing identity well, Barcelona for example. Watch their ‘more than just a club’ video. Barcelona is one of the world’s leading teams, but it’s not a football club. It’s a charity. One that works all over the world benefiting communities, from children’s homes to investments in other sports like women’s basketball. Its worldwide reach is incredible. The club has a vision of the impact it wants to make on the world. Of course, you don’t need to be Barcelona, and your goals might be more local!
Be honest about who you are and what you want to be.
Work with the people running your club. Ask them, if you could describe the club in one word, what would you use? Then get someone in your community to link those words together.
It’s the same with values. Find out what shared values you hold so this feeds into your overall identity.
One club we work with uses benevolence at the core of its identity. Their goal is to ensure every kid in their community has an opportunity to engage in some form of activity, not just football. This then impacts their club’s decisions at all levels.
How can clubs use their formed identity to make a difference?
Ask yourself, who are you locally? Are you well known in the community? Lots of clubs have issues with their local council, but that’s mainly because they’ve never communicated with them on what they’re trying to achieve or how they positively impact the community. You have to put yourself out there and build the relationship with them, so they know who you are, and only then will they be able to support you.
Whatever size club you are, it doesn’t take a lot of time - it just takes a plan. Once you have that plan you can work with the other pillars, such as marketing, which will get your organisation’s name out there.
Clubs often say they want more girls to play which is fantastic, but they have a committee which is all men, with no female representation. Their game is set up for boys - everything from the changing rooms to the lack of sanitary products. Girls’ football isn’t an extension of boys’ football. If you try to run it as a boys’ game it won’t work.
You have to get serious about who you want to be, how you can actually make it real, and then act on building your identity in a way that means something to people in your community.
Club Programme part of England Football Identity lead, Jeremy Hay, shares how he gets clubs to care about identity:
“I take it back to the common problems clubs face.
“Do you want finance in the future? Well, all finance opportunities go to organisations that are generally well structured. Identity helps bring that structure.
“Do you have a problem with keeping or attracting volunteers? Most clubs do, and the reason is they’re not bought into the club because there is no real identity holding the community together. Identity is the glue giving everyone a bigger reason to contribute and engage.
“Do you have a clear plan of where you’re going? Many don’t, yet 90% will say they have a vision, but you can’t find it on the website or anywhere else, and there are no real details of how they’ll get to where they want to be. Thinking about identity helps to formulate a plan so everyone can work together to achieve what they want for the club.
"Once you have your identity, your values, and the goals that feed into this, this filters through to your culture - what it feels like to be a player, a volunteer, a spectator at your club.”