Sir Trevor Brooking at the launch
of the Grass Roots Football Show 2005
Sir Trevor Brooking emphasised The FA's role in using the game as a power for good in society on Wednesday 2 March, when he helped launch the inaugural Grass Roots Football Show at The Valley.
Brooking stressed how clubs like hosts Charlton Athletic had helped reduce crime levels and improve numeracy and literacy among the youth of their community.
He explained how football is often misunderstood and misrepresented at the highest levels - and how events like this could go some way to helping the 500,000 volunteers who organise the game at the lower levels.
Sir Trevor Brooking
Part of my job is to get cabinet ministers to understand the work that The FA does at this level. Lots of clubs are doing fantastic work in the community, but it needs funding.
And it's an obvious area where the power, attraction and popularity of football produces a platform to tap into. The power of football is massively underused. It can be a power for good in society.
There are good clubs like Charlton who do invest their money in the schemes because they recognise that they are investing in young people and potential fans.
They may even go on to be successful businessmen in the future and want to invest some money in the club.
The popularity of football is so massive now that it can influence kids. If we can use that popularity to raise the literacy and numeracy levels of children then that is a good thing.
I went to a school at Bromley-by-Bow with Ashley Cole last week. It was his old school in actual fact. They have got a whole room that is dedicated to Arsenal that they use to teach the kids.
On the walls are all the players with how many games they have played, goals scored, minutes played. The numerical range that they can cover with those sort of statistics is huge.
They can also look at where some of the foreign lads come from and look it up so they can learn from a geographical point of view. When The FA Cup is on we promote an educational tool called 'Up for The Cup' and the lads can look up who is playing who and where they are from
Sir Trevor Brooking
Football is a great educational vehicle and we should use it.
When I was approached about the Grassroots Football Show I was amazed there'd never been one before and I think with tickets limited to 7,000 each day, the two days of the show will surely be a sell-out.
I'm happy to support it because it's an area The FA should be working in.
