01Soho Square
Some memories are poignant. I was at the FA’s former headquarters in Soho Square when the breaking news came through that Sir Bobby Robson had passed away.
Case studies · Sport
Sports marketing for The FA Coaches Association: my dream break
Working for the FA Coaches Association (FACA) as an outsourced Membership Manager via Goodform Sports Marketing agency in Warwick. As a huge football supporter since a young child, this was my dream break after university.
- Role
- Membership Manager
- Agency
- Goodform Sports Marketing, Warwick
- Key client
- The FA
- Duration
- 4 years
01 / The role
Two major FA contracts, one small sports marketing agency
Accounts at Goodform
Logos as they were at the time. The ASA has been Swim England since 2017, and British Swimming became Aquatics GB in 2024.
A very demanding role within Goodform, a small sports marketing agency, handling major contracts for governing bodies and premier sports organisations. My key client was the FA, account handling two of their major contracts. I also drove new member acquisition and retention through various marketing campaigns, whilst also increasing service levels by 85% on their national FA Learning hotline. Throughout my tenure and through other client work, I have gained key marketing and CRM experience, whilst also building my professional contacts and profile in general.
FACA membership retention rose by 60% against previous years, driven by the value added benefits introduced. New subscribers grew by 18% across the period, following on from the link with the FA Level 1 grassroots football qualification. UEFA A Licence and Pro Licence affiliations also increased, which was great for the FACA programme, with well known and well renowned former professional footballers from the Premier League and elsewhere renewing their memberships.
The FA position was a big part of a more rounded role at Goodform, where I also worked on other accounts such as the ASA, British Swimming and UK Athletics, with regular meetings at the UK Athletics centre in Edgbaston.
British Swimming and the ASA
For British Swimming and the ASA, our team at Goodform, managed by myself, ran the core support helpline for swimming qualifications. Feedback from the client was very positive, including a glowing personal review from Jane Nickerson MBE of British Swimming after she reviewed the quality of service from our team.
Coincidentally, Jane made our wedding cake many years later. Unbeknown to me it was the same lady until we visited her house near Grandborough, on the outskirts of Rugby, to discuss our requirements. It turns out she lived locally to me.
+60%
FACA membership retention against previous years, from the value added benefits introduced
+18%
New FACA subscribers across the period, following the link with the FA Level 1 grassroots qualification
A & Pro
More UEFA A Licence and Pro Licence affiliations, including former professional footballers renewing
85%
Increase in service levels on the national FA Learning hotline
80k+
Subscribers to weekly e-communications for UK Athletics
2×
Employee of the month in three years on the account
In their words
“FA Learning appointed Goodform to support the activity undertaken by The FA’s Coaches Association. Owain was my primary point of contact and demonstrated a fantastic work ethic, a great eye for detail and a positive influence throughout the project.”
Cassandra ReesMy client contact at FA Learning. Now Partnerships & Key Events Manager at SportsAid
“Owain always dealt with my enquiries efficiently and quickly.”
Steve WilliamsHead of Facilities & Inclusion, Watford FC’s Community Sports & Education Trust
02 / Responsibilities
What the role covered
01Marketing, brand and PR
- Brand (FA) marketing experience in creating awareness overseas of coaching tools and resources
- Marketing ideas implemented at governing bodies & other notable clients
- PR- promoting company and clients domestically and internationally
- Service marketing for both intangible & tangible delivery
- Contacting promotional merchandise org’s to manufacture & source FA branded stock from Asia
- National trade show experience-especially at the NEC for my primary clients The FA
- Key involvement for two years at the CRM Summit at “Lords Cricket Ground” and “The Emirates”
02Sales and account management
- 3 years solid B2B and B2C sales and marketing experience & business development skills
- Account management & weekly data analysis & reporting for senior management
- Negotiation & ability to handle the client or supplier relationship
- Strong call skills, cold calling, follow up calls, handling objections, closing deals
- Management of telesales campaigns and supervision of telesales staff
- Regular liaisons with three line managers (including Managing Director) + high profile clients
03Membership, CRM and data
- Membership management for the FA & membership audits for Everton FC et al
- CRM concepts/values & applicable program use- InTouch & Sage
- Market & data segmentation, regularly scrutinising member data for the purpose of reporting
- Strong skills with MS Office packages (Word, Excel, Outlook, Access) Lotus & CardFive
04Digital
- Management of in-house social media, including Twitter and Facebook pages
- Delivery of weekly e-communications for UK Athletics (over 80k subscribers)
- Use of Google Analytics, SEO (keywords, ad-words, ppc, sponsored links etc)
05Operations and fulfilment
- Managing fulfilment - between 2000-6000 packs & correspondence in 2 week period
- Storage & stock management
- Advanced administration & customer service skills- customer service for British Swimming
- Very speedy & accurate touch/audio typist
- Responsible for T&D and management of administrators & temp staff
06Working style
- Experience of working within corporate & SME’s, & ability to adapt to different industries/sectors
- I work very well both within a team and autonomously, and am very personable.
03 / Memories
Such a rewarding job
01 / 10
02FA Learning conferences
I played a key role at the FA Learning conferences, mingling with Fabio Capello, Stuart Pearce and Sir Trevor Brooking among others. There were trips away too, such as a conference at Sheffield Arena, followed by a meal and drinks late into the night with some former legends of the game.
03Rewards
Employee of the month was rewarded with England matches and hospitality access. I won it twice in the three years working on the account, with the internal FA Learning team also among the candidates. There was also a special reward of free hospitality tickets to watch Manchester United, which I received twice.
04The people
I built great professional relationships in this role, working closely with the FA Learning team, including Jamie Houchen, Head of FA Learning, Jacqueline Pillay, Senior Learning Co-ordinator, and Luke Godfrey.
05St George’s Park
Before my departure from Goodform, I was offered a full time role with the FA upon relocation to St George’s Park, which I had to turn down owing to both the distance at the time and salaries in the sports marketing industry not being as strong as elsewhere. Regrettably, I had to move on elsewhere.
06Moving on
It was sadly cut short by the recession, coinciding with the terminal illness of the Managing Director, Stuart Dalrymple, who sadly passed away following my departure. I remain proud of what was achieved.
Next step
Freelance sports marketing services
I offer freelance sports marketing services for clubs and organisations in the sports industry, whether that’s consulting on membership management, optimising your website or wider digital marketing.
A thirty minute call is usually enough to see where marketing and search can help.