Sean Noone: My life as England Deaf Football’s Head of Competitions (BSL)

I often get people asking me what I am doing behind the scenes at England Deaf Football… Most of them, including players and clubs, actually think that I am sitting behind the screen, doing nothing and waiting for the results to come in. Actually, there is much more than just waiting for the results on Sunday nights.

Let me explain my role as the Head of Competitions. I deal with absolutely everything. From dealing with the match to meeting with the Football Association, FA.

Before the season starts, I am going through information from the FA to ensure it is suitable for Deaf competitions and have a meeting with the FA to discuss any rules that may need adjustment to be suitable for Deaf players with an explanation of the reasons. It does not include Law of the Game (LOTG), as that is something we can’t make any changes to. It’s about safeguarding, insurance, risk assessments, FA affliction, applying for funding, and much more…

We receive clubs’ entry application forms, players registered within clubs, clubs’ details and upload everything on the system, update team sheets and work around the fixtures. Working around the fixtures could be a challenge as we have to ensure that it is fair where possible. Once I get everything sorted, we double check before it goes to the clubs.

Matches normally happen every fortnight at the weekend where I will receive the result, referee report, any complaints, concerns, safeguarding issues and team sheets from the clubs’ secretaries. Sometimes I contact the referee to get more feedback about clubs’ conduct to get a better understanding. Fortunately, I have a great relationship with the FA, where they are very helpful with any issue that we may be facing.

I also seek sponsors and funding for England Deaf football to allow it to carry on. I did get a little funding from some organisations, but it is not sufficient to survive. I always want to get a big sponsor to allow all Deaf teams and EDF to get stress-free financially. Without funding, Deaf football is at risk, which I am trying to avoid. If you would like or consider sponsoring EDF, please do contact me, as we would love to hear from you. That is for the Deaf community’s sake, including our future generation.

I am also dealing with clubs’ complaints or concerns. Sometimes clubs contact me after midnight during weekdays or even call me while I am at work, even though I am working full-time. That is one of the most annoying things to do as Head of Competitions, as it wakes me up in the night time or disturbs my work (my iPhone is often switched to “Do Not Disturb” while I am work, it is difficult as the call could be urgent from family or friends. I usually deal with the calls the next day).

The big issue with Deaf football is “Criticism”. Players, fans and management team may think it’s OK to criticise EDF, yet it is important for everyone to remember that we at EDF are voluntary. I give up a lot of my time to keep Deaf football ongoing, even though I have a full-time job and other commitments.

We can easily say “Ok then, after we receive some abusive behaviour, then the easy thing to do is quit and EDF is folded”, but I reassure you that we will never do that, because we know how important it is to have Deaf football ongoing, especially for Deaf players’ mental health – but all need to consider OUR mental health as well, as we are human beings.

Sadly, sometimes we receive very nasty abuse from players, clubs and fans because they don’t have their own way – which has made me sad to see that we especially give up our own time for clubs and the Deaf community. That must stop and support each other.

Running a national league and cups is a lot different from running a local league, as national is a big job and it could be a very stressful job. It is also important to have EDF ongoing as EDF is one of the pathways for players to play at international level by being involved with their own club.

I also find pitches for cup games such as semi-finals and finals, sort medals out, appoint the referee and assistant referees for the semi-finals and finals, undertake risk assessments and many more. I have been supported by my colleagues, Matthew Durant and Oliver Eadsforth. They have been brilliant. I truly appreciate having them on my team.  I don’t know what I would do without them.

I also attend other events such as the EDF Youth Futsal Tournament, Futsals Tournament and any  meetings that relate to EDF or Deaf football/futsals, UKDS, FA and many more… I never get bored with that. I believe I have made a big contribution towards Deaf community and changed people’s lives.

During my role as Head of Competitions, meeting with Debbie Hewitt MBE – a chair of the FA and vice president of FIFA, meant a lot to me. We had a good conversation over dinner at St. George’s Park about the issues in Deaf football along with other FA boards. I must admit that Debbie is one of my role models, because she is the first ever female to have this role, which has inspired me a lot, as we know that women have had similar barriers or oppression as those that Deaf people face. She has broken down barriers and I believe that we can become like her by showing what we are made of as Deaf people and being proud to be Deaf.

My proudest achievement is the Deaf Cup final being shown live on BT Sports. I had in lots of meetings with the FA two years ago before they agreed to the additional Deaf final on live television last year, and I believe it was the first ever live Deaf match on mainstream television in Europe and possibly in the world?!  This year’s final was also shown live again two weeks ago on BT Sports.

When you watch a Deaf match on TV, BT Sports, you may think “EDF is only doing some work behind the scenes for the few weeks before the event”… but actually, I spent a year behind the scenes doing a lot of work… a YEAR beforehand.

There was a lot of work to be done with the FA, media teams and clubs to ensure everything was set up and prepared for the broadcast on TV. I spent lots of hours behind the scenes with the FA and media team making adjustments for the Deaf match, including recruiting the most important role for the match, referees. I am also a qualified FA Referee, but for me, I always believe in giving people opportunities, so I gave this opportunity to other Deaf referees to officiate instead of myself.

Recruiting Deaf Pundits / match commentators is another of my proudest achievements as well, as I was involved behind the scenes before the interview and one of the interviewers where I was sitting on the panels, as you may have seen on BT Sports. As the interviewer on the panel, it was definitely a challenging job and all the applicants were great and I would love to offer ALL of them roles, but, unfortunately, we had to choose two, which were Damaris Cooke and Rolf Chouta. I am pleased to see that it was successful. I am hoping to see more Deaf people and BSL users involved with other sports instead of just football.

Getting Deaf football and commentaries on mainstream TV channels is one of the biggest breakthroughs that’s helped the Deaf community become more recognised, especially with our wonderful official language, British Sign Language.

The 11 a-side season (2023/2024) has now finished after the Deaf Final on 25th June 2023. It doesn’t mean my job is finished right now and I’m jetting off on holiday, lying on a  sunbed at the swimming pool and having a cheeky cocktail, as I have remaining events to attend as EDF Head of Competitions – which include:

• Deaf Sport Personality of the Year in London
• Men’s futsal tournaments in Oxford
• Exeter City Deaf FC’s award evening in Exeter
• Women and U21 Futsals in Warwick
• Football meetings.

After that – I will start everything again before the season 2023/2024 commences. I am doing that with my full passion for the Deaf community by giving them opportunities to achieve their dream and get recognised for their hard work within their clubs. Again, people do not realise this role is completely on a voluntary basis. I earn nothing, not even 1p but when I see the players and management teams with a smile on their faces, then I know I have done my job as Head of Competitions!

One of the next tasks for me is to develop women in football with women leading it, supported by me. As that is something that needs more development.

Now you know what it is like as Head of Competitions, there is a lot of work involved behind the scenes, especially on a voluntary basis. It is certainly not just sitting down and doing nothing.

I am not here to take all credit to myself but I get support by Matthew, Oliver and Steven. I thanked them for helping me to achieve the goals.

May England Deaf Football continue!