Welcome to the website of the Professional Players Federation, the national organisation for the Player Associations in the United Kingdom. There are over 17,500 professional sportsmen and women in Britain and the PPF is dedicated to promoting, protecting and developing their collective interests. We have been working for the players since our establishment in 1991.
The PPF currently has thirteen Player Associations in membership who are responsible for setting our priorities. We focus on cross-sport issues that affect all the members such as match fixing, career transition, mental health and anti-doping.
You will find information on a number of research and education projects we have undertaken to help our members as well as a range of resources available to help individual players. We also provide details of our various Committees which provide forums for our Player Associations to exchange ideas, share best practice and agree the organisation’s goals.
If you have any queries relating to our work or the work of our members, please get in touch.
The winner of the 2023 PCA Futures Awards, in association with Lodders Solicitors, is Yorkshire’s Yash Vagadia, who takes the sought-after accolade after impressing the panel with his recent off-field accomplishments. The 19-year-old claimed the victory in the Academic Progression category alongside being named the outstanding candidate of the process. The Yorkshire batting all-rounder receives £3,000 to aid his personal development, thanks to Lodders.
The RPA and Premiership Rugby are pleased to confirm that Restart Round will be back in December, running from December 1 - 3 and dedicating Round 8 of Gallagher Premiership Rugby to raising awareness of players' mental health. Restart is the official charity of The Rugby Players Association (RPA) and we are dedicated to supporting professional rugby players suffering from serious injury, illness or hardship.
Following the announcement of the domestic men’s fixture list for 2024, the PCA has listened to its members on concerns regarding the schedule and the pressures it places on player welfare. Whilst recognising the challenges of maintaining a balanced schedule for all, the PCA is aware of views throughout the county game, following member engagement.
As part of the latest achievements of the Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme (AIMS), the PFA has announced a 29% increase in South Asian professional players in the 2023/24 season. The PFA’s South Asian Inclusion Strategy provides an extensive support network and club engagement, providing valuable experiences for Asian footballers across professional levels.
The Professional Jockeys Association has today announced that Paul Struthers has been appointed as its new Chief Executive, returning to a role he departed almost two years ago. Since leaving the PJA, Struthers has established his own sports consultancy, Moya Sport, and for the past few months has been providing consultancy services and advice to the PJA.
Former Bath City striker Alex Fletcher has joined the PFA’s Brain Health department, 12 months after suffering a near-fatal head injury. He has worked with the PFA and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to highlight the need for clearer guidance for clubs and enhanced safety measures.
Aston Villa stars Maz Pacheco and Ebony Salmon joined young people from across Birmingham for the PFA’s latest See It. Achieve It. event. Launched last year, the initiative elevates the voices of diverse role models from across the women’s game and inspiring the next generation of female football talent.
PCA Futures Week has drawn to a close having explored career transition stories from the PCA membership, whilst shining a light on enhancing player’s personal development. At the flagship event, the PCA Futures Conference, players have the opportunity to hear from industry experts and put the skills they’ve learnt into practice.
The PFA has released its yearly summary of player wellbeing data. Throughout the 2022/23 season, the players’ union confidentially surveyed over a thousand members from across the Premier League, English Football League (EFL) and Women’s Super League (WSL) on a range of issues related to their mental health and wellbeing.