Over 11 million people play football in England, according to latest data in The FA’s State of the Game report.
Football remains far and away the highest participation team sport in the country and England’s ‘Football Universe’ currently comprises:
- 8.2 million adults of which 6.25 million are men and 2.03 million are women
- 3.35 million children, aged 5-15 or which 2.49 million are boys and 860,000 are girls.
Across The FA’s traditional remit of Affiliated Football, there are currently over 119,000 teams, made up of approximately 1.8 million children and adults playing in over 1,200 leagues.
The number of women’s teams in affiliated football has risen five per cent since 2010, but over the same period, participation in traditional men’s football has had a 10 per cent drop.
However, according to the latest government figures – released today as part of the Active People Survey (APS) – the decline has now been arrested. The current results show no significant decrease in participation numbers across the adult population.
The APS also highlights that there has once again been an upturn in the number of people with disabilities participating in football – 7,400 up in the past six months. This stands up State of the Game data which reveals that over five years the number of teams in affiliated football has risen from 1,100 across the country to 1,700.
For full results from the State of the Game report please click here
