‘See it and be it’ - telling stories and creating inspiration to grow the game
Authentic voice storytelling
Working with elite football to tell proper grassroots stories
Research and development to get to new stories and voices
WORKING WITH UEFA, THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION AND THE PREMIER LEAGUE TO CELEBRATE THE BASE OF THE PYRAMID
Through The FA People’s Cup, Premier League: More Than A Game, and UEFA 22 Let Them Play, we have created for social, digital and linear channels championing the people who play the game for the love of it, finding their home in football. Research, screening, interviews, and production to tell stories with a genuine fondness that connects and shows sport as a stage for the best of people’s nature.
THE PREMIER LEAGUE: MORE THAN A GAME
Pitching to The Premier League, how does the organisation reflect its support for all levels of the game with authenticity and that captures the attention? We proposed The People’s View, a flip of the order, give the grassroots the mic and let them tell us what was important to them. In doing so, we would create a new visual style, this was treating grassroots football with the same care, attention and respect as the elite stuff. What resulted was a social-first series of seven stories, highlighting why people chose to play, organise and enable, building communities that grow football.
THE FA PEOPLE’S CUP
As Series Producer for The FA Peoples Cup, I took huge pleasure in finding amazing stories from Newcastle to Newquay and all parts in between, and piecing together a narrative on the transformative power of playing sport in your community with friends.
The FA People’s Cup brought 250,000 players to pitches across England over the course of its lifetime, including 55,000 in 2018 to make the biggest tournament of its kind.
We offered 18 different categories for 5-a-side play, an opportunity genuinely for all, from u-14 boys and girls to 55+ walking football and several disability football tournaments. In bringing together so many people we had the chance to reflect the diversity of the game and highlight that everyone has a home in football. To recruit new players to the game, we must look beyond our usual base, and so as well as having Gary Lineker and Alex Scott involved, we also brought in talent who could reach other audiences like Nick Bright and Adele Roberts.
UEFA WOMEN’S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The summer of 2022 presented a massive opportunity for women’s football, which the Lionesses, the FA, and the BBC delivered on. Leading on the participation and legacy piece from the BBC side, with marketing and regions teams to bring iconic shows like Football Focus and Newsround to the pre-tournament roadshow. Bringing BBC closer to our audience and underlining our commitment in an increasingly competitive women’s football rights’ market, with a highlight being Alex Scott presenting Football Focus on the Road, with Sue Campbell and Gareth Southgate as guests in Sheffield.
With Studio Something we explored how women and girls were shaping football their way. Focusing on participation with the wonderful Peaches FC, media production with the inspirational Erin-Beau, and fan culture with the legendary Accidental Ultra, this series was shortlisted and commended at the Broadcast Sport Awards in 2022.
Following the tournament, what was the true legacy of a seismic moment for women’s sport? Our storytelling doesn’t just focus on ‘the moment’ as we followed up six months on to speak with women in grassroots football across England, to see how the picture had really developed for people on the park pitches.