New players are using our #SquadBooster portal to browse live classified adverts and match themselves up with a team, while clubs are attracting new faces by submitting an advert which is widely shared online and on social media.

Grassroots football players and teams are being paired together after being introduced via our online service. Launched back in 2010, #SquadBooster appeals to players looking to take part in football for the first time, individuals who are keen to get back into the game after a spell on the sidelines or those seeking more game time elsewhere.

Players now use #SquadBooster to find football, and the service is pivotal to achieving one of the County FA’s key goals - simply to get more people, of all abilities, playing the grassroots game. Users of the service are from all levels of adult male, adult female, boys’ and girls’ football. #SquadBooster also incorporates Futsal, Soccability and Walking Football.

It takes just three minutes for a club to complete the online form, which has been used over 2,000 times, with a 100% completion rate. These adverts are then published on the website and are split into four local regions to make it easier for players to find a club close to them.

In addition, adverts are hugely backed by social media activity, especially on Twitter, where individual tweets are shared using the highly-active #SquadBooster hashtag. This is used every day by a growing number of users, generating millions of interactions every year.

Essex County FA Marketing & Communications Officer, Chris Evans, is proud of the growth of the service since it’s introduction, explaining: “#SquadBooster is a true success story - it’s considerably more popular than we could have imagined when it was launched a decade ago.”

“But we’re still gathering ongoing user feedback to ensure it continues to be fully-optimised. We have ambitious plans for #SquadBooster, which has a huge part to play in our organisation achieving the strategic participation targets we set ourselves in the future.”

If you’re a player looking to join a club, or a team seeking new players, visit our #SquadBooster portal to browse the latest live classified adverts or submit one for your own team. Opportunities are also shared via @EssexCountyFA using the #SquadBooster hashtag on Twitter, and a weekly digest of new adverts can be found by searching for ‘EssexFootball’ on Facebook.