UEFA CFM in England

With the UEFA Certificate in Football Management (UEFA CFM) programme helping to give national association staff across Europe enhanced managerial skills and knowledge, England has kicked off its third national edition of the programme.

The course was launched at Wembley Stadium in London, and featured 31 participants representing the English Football Association (FA), English county FAs and clubs, as well as external participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia and UEFA. Darren Bailey, the English FA director of football governance and regulation, presented the strategy of football organisations from the FA's perspective. Academic experts were also on-site to lead the students into what will be an exciting and fulfilling course that will help them make an important contribution to European football's development and well-being.

The UEFA CFM is a nine-month programme involving studies into numerous topics, including organisation, strategy and strategic management, operational management, marketing and sponsorship, communications, media and public relations, and event and volunteer management. The programme contains six interactive online modules and three face-to-face seminars,

Participants acquire skills related to management techniques and best practices, which will help them take on senior executive roles and make full use of the skills learned through their CFM studies. The Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP) awards the certificates, and the course has been prepared and is conducted by respected academics from universities in France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

England was one of the pilot associations as the UEFA CFM expanded into a pan-European initiative, and has since been joined by several other European countries in bringing momentum to the programme by staging national courses which, while adhering to the UEFA CFM’s overall philosophy, also comprise specific elements geared to a country's national context.