The economic impact of the pandemic has meant it has been necessary to review our staff structure

As you may be aware, the effects of COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant impact on The Football Association finances with a £300 million budget deficit requiring The FA to put in place measures to make savings of £75 million a year, for the next four years.

As a direct result of that process, which also involved the loss of a number of FA Staff, The FA also took the decision to reduce their grants to County FAs by 23%, which in turn left us needing to make significant savings in our own budget.

Our priority since the national lockdown has been to ensure the long-term future of Hertfordshire FA and to support our staff. We, along with many other County Associations across the country, have had to take the difficult decision to look at ways reduce costs.

As a result we undertook a review of our workforce, the aim of which was to ensure that we could balance budgets while retaining capability to meet our Key Performance Indicators, in order to maintain our level of central funding from the FA.

The restructure process involved working with the Finance Committee, Senior Leadership Team, Board of Directors, the CEO and the Senior Management Team, with the process being completed on the 2nd October 2020.

Regrettably the outcome of this review has resulted in a reduction to our workforce, with Phil Sharp and Paul Musgrave leaving the Association.

In addition, Hannah Bingham has left her role to pursue her studies and a new position elsewhere, while Matt Reynold’s maternity cover contract ended at the end of August.

Richard Drake has taken the opportunity to further develop his skillset and leaves us for a role with the Rugby Football Union. We have recruited a replacement and we look forward to welcoming Samantha Carey, who will join the organisation as our Designated Safeguarding Officer on 5 November 2020.

We would like to place on record our utmost thanks to all the staff that are leaving for their excellent contributions to the Association.

In addition, further changes include Gemma Smith, Danielle Evans, and Joe Karram taking on reduced hours in their roles within the organisation.

This period has called for us to refocus on our methods for delivery of core activities in these uniquely challenging circumstances. We are confident that these adjustments to our service will allow us to continue to deliver for all involved in Hertfordshire football.

We recognise that this has been a challenging time for all staff, not only with the furlough arrangements but dealing with the uncertainty about the future given the current economic climate. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff for the way they have conducted themselves and the professionalism they have shown during this process. 

Finally, I want to thank the Clubs, Leagues and Match Officials across the county for their support during this time, which I am all too aware has been a difficult period. I’m sure that we will continue to work together and support one another in the months ahead, whatever they may hold.

Regards,

Karl Lingham
Chief Executive Officer