With the new season upon us, numerous heatwaves throughout the summer and the World Cup fading into memory, here's a recap of our New York City Football Climate Summit, in partnership with Columbia University's master’s programme in Sustainability Management.

Panel discussion guests (from left to right): Ann Kosmal, FAIA (HOK); Chandler Precht (Columbia University); Mary Connor (Common Goal); John Riordan (New York SCORES); Dr. Eli Dennis (Jupiter Intelligence)

On the eve of the World Cup final, we unveiled our Playable Future Blueprint. Around 80 senior leaders from the worlds of sport and sustainability attended, including our very own Elliot Arthur-Worsop who delivered the keynote address, as well as other FFF crew Thom Rawson, Jonny Oakley, and Julia Mazorra.

What the Blueprint does

The Playable Future Blueprint is our operational framework for climate-proofing community football infrastructure and tournament legacy investment. It gives football's organising bodies a repeatable, end-to-end model for building climate-risk safeguards into grassroots developments, built around:

3 Funding Tracks: New Developments, Facility Upgrades, and a Resilience Fund
6 Lifecycle Phases: Fund, Design, Source, Empower, Measure, Share
The Playable Future Model, which applies those phases across the tracks for governing bodies, tournament organisers and national associations

Given that this World Cup was played across three countries and is believed to be the most polluting ever, the focus on how major tournaments can safeguard the future of the game and embed climate resilience into their legacy is more important than ever.

The day itself

The event also featured a teaser of our documentary Pitches in Peril: Frontlines, alongside a panel discussion with leaders from across climate and football. There was a call to action from our Climate Champions Community, who are encouraging current or former professionals to help secure the future of the next generation of footballers and their pitches.

FFF founder and director Elliot Arthur-Worsop said, “There was a real buzz in New York around the World Cup final, and it felt like the perfect moment to bring together people from across the football ecosystem to talk seriously about protecting the future of the game. Launching the Playable Future Blueprint and player coalition felt like a really significant moment for us, made even more special by having Jas Spence, Gabrielle McKenzie and Uriel Zeitz in the room representing the player voice. The wildfire smoke and dangerous air pollution across New York that weekend was also a pretty stark reminder of why this work matters. We’re hugely grateful to Columbia, the UN, Common Goal, Think Beyond, Climate Central, HOK, New York Scores and everyone else who helped make such a special day possible.”

The weather in New York emphasised the need for action. As well as games throughout the tournament being disrupted by lightning storms and heat, there were hazy skies, smoke from wildfires, and warnings about poor air quality. A fitting, if unwelcome, backdrop for the conversation inside.

You can download the full Playable Future Blueprint here.