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Tending the grassroots - UEFA Direct 181 out now

UEFA's official magazine looks at the grassroots game - and how it was celebrated across Europe as part of the UEFA Grassroots Week.

UEFA Direct 181 is available to read in English, French and German
UEFA Direct 181 is available to read in English, French and German ©UEFA.com

Where would football be without its grassroots? This essential and enduring sector of the beautiful game is celebrated in the latest edition of UEFA Direct.

Edition 181 of UEFA’s official magazine looks back at the recent UEFA Grassroots Week, when young and old united for festivities in countries throughout Europe which demonstrated conclusively why football is so loved, and how it is a sport that throws its doors wide open to everyone.

Nor would football be the game it is without the millions of volunteers, helpers and enthusiasts that work tirelessly at grassroots level. UEFA Direct gives deserved applause to the gold, silver and bronze winners of 2018 UEFA Grassroots Awards for best leader, best project and best club.

The UEFA European club competition season is launched annually in style in Monaco. UEFA Direct reviews this year’s events in the principality, and heralds the winners of UEFA’s annual players’ awards – in particular Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luca Modrić and Wolfsburg’s Danish forward Pernille Harder, who picked up the UEFA Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year prizes respectively for the 2017/18 season.

UEFA listens to the views and proposals made by the top European club coaches at its annual forum, and the outcomes of this year’s gathering in Nyon come under the spotlight.

Clubs’ backroom teams of doctors, fitness coaches, performance analysts, sports scientists and nutritionists, to name but a few, help keep today’s modern players in prime condition – the coaching supplement, The Technician, examines the roles and importance of these “teams behind a team”.

The UEFA #EqualGame campaign continues to champion diversity, inclusion and accessibility in football. In each edition, UEFA Direct goes to a different European country to highlight a person who epitomises the values of the campaign.

This time around, Hannah Bryndis Proppé Bailey from Iceland, who has been dealing with depression and schizophrenia for over half of her young life, tells us how football has been a catalyst in helping her find a way forward.

Elsewhere in UEFA Direct 181

• Reports from UEFA events and competitions

• UEFA pays record amounts to clubs and national associations for 2017/18

• The importance of national associations' branding

• The UEFA Foundation for Children helps build new pitches for refugees in Jordan

• News from the UEFA member associations

UEFA Direct 181, which appears every two months, is available to read in English, French and German