Football isn’t just a sport — it’s part of the national fabric. But The FA, the body entrusted to lead the game, was losing ground. Participation was flatlining. Trust was fading. And a fragmented experience was making it hard for people to connect — or even care.We were asked a big question:

How can we make The FA relevant again — to every player, coach, official, volunteer, and fan?

What we did

We delivered a full system reboot — twelve products in 24 months. Each one designed to unlock value for users and build trust for the organisation. We started with what matters most: people.

Each team ran interviews, workshops, and research to understand the needs, habits, and frustrations of everyone involved in the game — from grassroots to pro level. Then we used those insights to fuel product strategy and design. We built a modular system — fast, flexible, and ready to scale.

Twelve cross-functional squads ran in parallel, powered by shared microservices and a stable core platform. Research loops and rapid prototyping were baked into every team’s rhythm. Think less big reveal, more constant refinement.

Results

⚽ Just Play brought 90,000 people together for casual park football
⚽ Wildcats helped over 60,000 girls join the game
⚽ Matchday hit 68,000 weekly users and doubled the player payment target
⚽ Full Time signed up 2.2M users with a 17% YoY traffic boost
⚽ Supporters Club saw a 25% jump in youth registrations

Every product was grounded in research, validated with the people who’d use it, and launched with care — from local pilots to national scale.

Behind the scenes

• A constellation of agile squads.
• Centralised standards.
• Decentralised energy.

As project lead, I guided delivery from day one, ensuring alignment, clarity, and momentum across the entire ecosystem.

What I learned

• In complex ecosystems, overcommunication isn't a flaw — it's a feature.
• Clarity of vision plus team autonomy equals speed and quality.
• Great design needs strong advocacy — because not everyone plays fair.

This project was named Deal of the Year at Cognizant. But for me, the real win was watching people fall in love with football again — one product at a time.