At AFC Oakley, we’re so proud to have retained our Accredited Club status for another season.

The club accreditation process has taken over from the Charter Standard award that was previously in place and accreditation looks a lot more at the behind the scenes running of the club.

It also means that we lead by example, we raise the bar to set our standards high and we fly the flag for respect and diversity…..in a nutshell we work to the standards set by the FA. There has been a huge transition behind the scenes recently and Oakley has retained its charter standard status for many a few and this has now evolved into us becoming an Accredited club.

Accredited Leagues and Clubs exist for the players and create opportunities for everyone to experience and enjoy the game we all love. Every fan, parent and volunteer, however they support the game. Every player, referee, or coach, regardless of their ability.

As an accredited club we are there to ensure that we have created a safe, respectful and inclusive environment and pathway for all of our players. We have teams running from u6s right the way through to adults and for this season we have affiliated 31 teams to Beds FA which in itself is a huge task.

At Oakley, our infrastructure is sound, robust, efficient and effective. It centres around the Respect standards and behaviours needed to make football in England something we can all be proud to be part of.  Our accreditation status is also a clear signal to everybody that we value the importance of being sustainable and built to last off the pitch. We also want the very best for everybody: your players, coaches, spectators, volunteers, and officials. Everyone counts and everyone is valued.

All of this doesn’t happen by chance and there are a number of processes that need to be followed to ensure year on year that the club retains this status. These include the following:

All players are registered to the club and know that they belong to AFC Oakley and are part of the club. A player that isn’t registered to club is not permitted to play any game representing AFC Oakley.

All coaches have an enhanced DBS check that is renewed every 3 years.

All coaches complete the FA safeguarding qualification that they renew every two years

At least one coach within each team holds an up to date Introduction into coaching award (Previously known as the level 1 coaching qualification)

At least one coach within the team holds a valid FA first aid qualification that is renewed every 3 years.

That the Chairman, Secretary, Welfare Officer and  Treasurer have completed the Safeguarding Committee Members course.

That we have a club constitution in place and a set of policies and procedures in place that cover everything required to run a football club.

We have a club development plan in place.

That we have a clear and understandable safeguarding policy and all in the club know who the club welfare officer is.

At Oakley we are extremely proud to be an accredited club and work tirelessly to make sure that all involved in these processes adhere to the standards set by the FA. With an extremely dedicated committee and group of coaches who do all of this on a voluntary basis, they are an absolute credit to the club and long may it continue.

Next stop on the agenda is girls’ football so watch this space for more details coming soon.