FA Partners With Google Cloud, Tackles Fan Behaviour

The FA has agreed a new partnership with Google Cloud and has launched a new campaign aiming to highlight the issue of anti-social behaviour across the English game.

As part of a four-year partnership, Google Cloud will become the official cloud and data analytics partner for England and the St. George’s Park training complex.  

The introduction of G Suite applications such as Google Drive, Sheets and Hangouts has already improved collaboration between technical staff to further enhance the wider England player pathway.

Meanwhile, the ongoing development of a new Player Profile System (PPS), leveraging Google Cloud smart analytics and data management solutions, will be used to measure performance, fitness, training and form of players at all levels. This real-time data will better inform coaches during the decision-making process.

Dave Reddin, the FA’s Head of Team Strategy and Performance, said: “We believe technology is a key area of potential competitive advantage for our 28 teams and everything we do at St. George’s Park. We have progressively built a systematic approach to developing winning England teams and through the support of Google Cloud technology we wish to accelerate our ability to translate insight and learning into performance improvements.”  

As well as helping to enable winning England teams, the Google Cloud partnership will also explore ways to further support the FA’s other strategic priorities such as doubling female participation and making football inclusive and open to all.

Meanwhile, ahead of England’s participation in next month’s UEFA Nations League Finals in Portugal, the FA has launched a campaign entitled ‘Don’t be that idiot’.

With a large number of England fans expected to travel to support the team in June, the minute-long film portrays extreme examples of unacceptable behaviour but within a formal setting to highlight the embarrassment caused.

The video ends with a message from England coach Gareth Southgate, calling on those responsible to follow the lead of others and help make the experience of following English football positive for all.

Earlier this month, the FA partnered with Heads Together to launch the Heads Up campaign, which is designed to generate “the biggest ever conversation” around mental health. The FA was successful in Leadership in Sport Award, the Communications Award and Film Content Award categories at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2019.

Commenting on the latest initiative, FA CEO Martin Glenn said: “It’s been a great season for English football and England but we can’t ignore some of the anti-social and embarrassing behaviour that has crept back into the game.

“There are thousands of brilliant supporters wherever our teams go, but there is an increasing problem that must be called out. We all have a responsibility to represent the country in the right way and that is what we are trying to highlight.”