Cognizant and The FA expand their Digital Transformation Partnership

Cognizant and The Football Association (The FA) have expanded their Digital Transformation Partnership which will see the professional services provider support The FA’s ongoing digital transformation programmes across English football. 

Building on the work achieved over the last few years, this new partnership will see Cognizant become the Digital Transformation Partner of The FA, Official Partner of the Emirates FA Cup, Official Partner of the Women’s FA Cup, Official Partner of The FA Community Shield, and Official Partner of England Football. 

Cognizant will continue to support The FA in its two-fold mission to change the game to maximise impact as well as helping to serve the game to deliver football to all. This will be achieved by serving over two million players through a transformed digital platform. The platform will provide trusted digital experiences across multiple operations that serve the amateur and professional game, from player registration to connected personalised learning. It will also deliver clear brand identity and reputation for The FA as well as a tech enabled and insight driven approach to managing football in the UK. 

Since embarking on the strategic partnership in 2017, Cognizant has designed, delivered, and maintained a suite of digital products that simplify the many administrative tasks of playing a football match whilst increasing engagement with The FA through digital channels. Matchday is one of the flagship products that helps grassroots teams manage football on the day of the match. Through “England Football”, Cognizant delivered a digital ecosystem for The FA, connecting and rewarding their fans, players, coaches and volunteers across all journeys from grassroots to elite. The FA and Cognizant expanded the success of England Football by building the “England Football Learning Hub,” which reimagined The FA’s consumer facing learning platforms to deliver a truly user-centered experience for coaches, first aiders scouts and other users.    

“Our partnership with Cognizant is central to our strategy of embracing the ever-changing digital landscape, helping the grassroots football community to get the most from their experiences and, in so doing, further strengthening their relationships and quality engagement with The FA and County Football Associations,” said Craig Donald, Chief Information Officer at The FA.  

“We’re incredibly proud to be working so closely with The FA to help transform its digital operations so that more people can enjoy the game of football rather than worry about administering it,” said Manju Kygonahally, VP, Communications, Media & Technology at Cognizant. “Our expanded partnership will now see us work even closer with grassroots organisations with the goal of digitally transforming the game, providing coaches, players, referees and parents with access to the information they need to get the most out of the game. It gives us a lot of pride to partner with The FA to build and manage a platform that is expected to register approximately two million players, to help create their own pathways to learn and enhance their game.