Football Association Chairman Greg Clarke and newly appointed Chief Executive Mark Bullingham visited the County Ground on Tuesday to meet staff and answer questions on the future of football both locally and nationally.

The pair were also shown the site of the new artificial grass pitch with work due to start soon on the project, Greg Clarke agreed artificial pitches played a key part in halting the decline in participation numbers. Mark Bullingham was also encouraged by the new facility commenting “there are two big areas we can influence to keep people involved in football and that is the quality of coaching and the quality of the playing experience. Pitches like this one in Hereford will play a major role in addressing the latter of these two key issues.”

The FA staff confirmed future improvements to the FA’s IT services intend to help reduce the administration workload on the volunteer workforce and hope this would encourage more people to get involved in grassroots football. Mark Bullingham and Greg Clarke also responded to questions on the sale of Wembley and plans to boost the FA’s offer for women’s & girls’ football and disability football.

Mark Bullingham has previously commented that:

"I’m hugely passionate about the role The FA plays in improving the English game and our positive contribution to society. Getting kids across the country active and learning life skills such as teamwork and communication is incredibly rewarding. I’m confident in the talent and determination of the workforce here and the direction we are heading together.

However, there is still a huge amount to do; from transforming the quality of amateur pitches, to doubling the women’s and girls’ game across the country, to hosting major international tournaments, to building digital tools to help volunteers across all areas of the grassroots game. The to-do list is long but we know that as a team, we can deliver huge progress”.

Herefordshire FA are looking forward to working with the FA nationally to develop and grow the game for all participants across the county.