Delivering social and public health programmes through community arms of professional football clubs

Community arms of professional football clubs have become key third-sector players in mitigating health and social inequalities. This paper examines the factors affecting their capacity for delivering social and public health programmes in the community setting. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 community staff members from the community arms of 22 professional football clubs and one non-professional club. This provided the basis for an interpretive thematic analysis which led to the development of three themes: 'from football club community departments to charitable arms', 'the reach of community programmes', and 'challenges and opportunities of delivering social and public health programmes via community football club arms'. Charitable status has created more funding opportunities, enabling community arms to better prioritize community needs. The expanding reach of community programmes delivers social and health benefits to children, adults, and older adults (65 and over) from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. However, numerous challenges and opportunities were reported as affecting community arms' capacity to deliver these programmes. Safeguarding is a challenge, but partnerships offer an opportunity to address it. Co-dependency with the football club presents both challenges and opportunities for community arms. Staffing and facilities, funding applications and reporting on programmes, were all identified as challenges. Our findings highlight eight key recommendations specific to areas of oversight in the community arms of football clubs, including professional development, partnership working, board members, resourcing, funding, programme reporting, and conflicts of interest.