Chairman appointed as Berks & Bucks FA Director

Reading City Football Club is proud to announce that our Chairman, Martin Law has been appointed as the Director of Grassroots Football at the Berkshire & Buckinghamshire Football Association, where he’ll oversee the newly formed Grassroots Football Board.

We’d like to reassure everyone connected with Reading City Football Club, that this new role doesn’t affect Martin’s position as Club Chairman and therefore will remain in post.

Club Chairman, Martin Law was formerly a member of the Berkshire & Buckinghamshire Football Association’s council, having joined in 2019 when that to was initially setup.

The Council voted to disband following a comprehensive organisational review, in favour of a new group of seven new networks which will be headed up by a Grassroots Football Board.

The new networks are:

·       Mail Participation

·       Female Participation

·       County Cup Working Group

·       Referee Development

·       Coaches and Volunteers

·       Football Facilities

·       League Representatives

The newly introduced Grassroots Football Board will report directly to Berkshire & Buckinghamshire Football Association’s main Board of Directors and will assist them in its oversight of grassroots participation, support and development and will be made from Chairs of each of the new networks, each of which has its own focus area within grassroots football.

The seven networks that form the Grassroots Football Board will bring together a diversity of voices from representation across Berkshire & Buckinghamshire Football Association’s region and from a variety of roles.

The Berkshire & Buckinghamshire Football Association aim to ensure that their decision-making represents the views of those currently involved in all aspects of the game, as well as those who are not directly involved.

Having been involved in Grassroots Football for over 30 years, the Berkshire & Buckinghamshire Football Association has made a very wise appointment in our opinion.

In 2020, Martin’s Contribution to Grassroots Football was recognised at the Annual Football in Berkshire Awards where he took home the coveted Outstanding Contribution to Local Football Award.

Martin’s contribution to the local grassroots football scene started in 1990, where he took on the role of Manager at AFC Highmoor in 1990 after now club secretary Chris Gallimore took over the club and this began the journey to where we are today as Reading City Football Club.

Martin is also the Chairman of the Thames Valley Premier League.

When we spoke to Martin about his new role, here’s what he had to say:

“I’ve been part of the Berks & Bucks FA since 2019 having initially joined as a Councillor, but I’m very excited to take up the position of Director of Grassroots Football. Over the last 33 years that I’ve been involved in grassroots football there has been lots of change, some good and some bad and its these experiences that I will use to ensure that grassroots football continues to thrive, as it’s the lifeblood of the game.”