It is recognised that within any organisation differences and misunderstandings can arise, and this is no different within grassroots football.

We welcome any suggestions from parents/carers and players on how we can improve our club, and we will give prompt and serious attention to any concerns that an individual may have. 

Any queries or concerns will be dealt with professionally and confidentially to ensure that any issues are handled sensitively and effectively to ensure the wellbeing of all children, enable ongoing cooperative partnership with parents/ carers and to continually improve the quality of our club.

We have formal procedures for dealing with minor concerns to more serious complaints where we are not able to resolve these informally. 

Where any concern or complaint relates to child protection, we follow our Safeguarding Children Policy.

Parent/Player Complaint or Grievance Procedure

Stage 1

If a parent or player should have cause for complaint, they should first take this up with their team coach (if deemed appropriate). It is hoped that this can be resolved to the parent/player’s satisfaction in an informal manner. The coach must report any such complaint to the club Welfare Officer (Clare Hales).

If the players’ coach is not the most appropriate person for the parent to approach or if the nature of the complaint is regarding the safeguarding or welfare of a child, then they must approach the club Welfare Officer as a matter of urgency via email to clarehales1@hotmail.co.uk.

Stage 2

If the issue remains unresolved or the parent/player feels they have received an unsatisfactory outcome, then these concerns must be emailed to the club Secretary (Norman Cave) on ncave73@gmail.com using the club complaints form which will be provided by the Club Welfare Officer.

The Secretary will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within five working days if possible. The Secretary will then investigate the complaint confidentially and report back to the parent/player, normally within twenty working days. This will be fully documented in the clubs’ complaints folder and will detail the nature of the complaint and any actions arising from it.

Stage 3

If the matter is still not resolved, it will be escalated to a formal committee meeting and/or meeting between the parent/player with the club Welfare Officer and the club Secretary and also the club Chairperson; depending on the nature of the complaint, to ensure that it is dealt with comprehensively. A record of the meeting will be made along with documented actions with an outcome decided; depending again on the nature of the complaint.

Stage 4

If the matter cannot be resolved to parent/player satisfaction, then parents/players have the right to raise the matter with the County Football Association.

Contact details for County FA:

Address: County Ground, Thurston Rd, Leyland PR25 2LF

By Phone: 01772 624000 (9am – 5pm Monday – Friday) 

By Email: info@lancashirefa.com

Actions following a complaint

In the event of a complaint being substantiated, the club’s Committee has the power to:

(i) Warn as to future conduct

(ii) Suspend from membership or position

(iii) Remove from membership or position any person found to have broken the Club’s Policies or Codes of Conduct

On occasion a complaint may be investigated and found to be malicious in its intent. In this instance, the Committee will consider whether the Club’s Code of Conduct had been breached and implement one of the actions above.

The club will also consider whether to consult or inform The FA in relation to any breach of FA rules or guidelines.

A record of complaints will be kept within the club. The record will include the name of the complainant, the nature of the complaint, date and time complaint received, action(s) taken, result of any investigations and any information given to the complainant including a dated response.

Coach/Assistant Coach Complaint or Grievance Procedure

Any coach or assistant who has any cause for concern must raise this initially in an informal manner to the committee via the Club Welfare Officer.

If the coach/assistant coach’s concern or complaint is regarding the safeguarding or welfare of a child, then they must approach the club Welfare Officer as a matter of urgency via email to clarehales1@hotmail.co.uk

If after this initial conversation, the coach/assistant feels that that their complaint has not been taken seriously or resolved to their satisfaction then they must follow the complaints and grievance procedure above.

Any member of the committee who may have a conflict of interest with a parent/player/coach/assistant/parent helper will step aside and allow the next appropriate member of the committee to handle the complaint and escalate as necessary as per the stages of this policy.