West Ham United Football Club can welcome 62,000 visitors to the London Stadium on a matchday, including approximately 25,000 children. Beyond the stadium, its safeguarding service works across men’s and women’s football, the boys’ and girls’ Academies and other Club activities. That breadth calls for experienced practitioners who understand each setting and can work confidently with colleagues, families and external agencies.

For Jackie Ferdinand, Director of Safeguarding and Inclusion, safeguarding means bringing that professional judgement into every part of the organisation. Her team provides specialist advice, challenge and assurance across the Club, with Independent Safeguarding Service (ISS) offering an independent perspective that complements the expertise already in place.

Matchday safeguarding involves children, young people and adults at risk, with practitioners working alongside safety teams, police, medical colleagues, stewards and other agencies. Where a vulnerability or previous concern is known, their involvement can begin before the event, contributing to proportionate planning and risk assessment.

During a match, the team brings a safeguarding perspective to changing circumstances, supporting dynamic risk assessment and decisions about appropriate help. Where a child is alleged to have caused harm or committed an offence, that includes considering their vulnerabilities and any possible exploitation alongside accountability and the needs of the person harmed.

The work can continue after the final whistle, through referrals, liaison with families or agencies, signposting to local services and checking that necessary follow-up has been picked up. Safeguarding is therefore part of the planning, response and learning around an event.

Within football and the Academies, safeguarding practitioners work alongside Football Operations, Player Care, Medical, Education and coaching colleagues. Their contribution supports player welfare across family engagement, pastoral arrangements, mental and emotional wellbeing, and significant transitions such as retain–release decisions or player placements. The approach recognises that support needs depend on individual circumstances and developmental stage as well as age.

The safeguarding service also works with Foundation and community activity, adding to the range of settings and participants it supports. Across its work, safeguarding encompasses adults at risk as well as children and young people.

Across these settings, practitioners use professional curiosity and safeguarding enquiry skills to assess information, distinguish safeguarding concerns from criminal, disciplinary, welfare or employment matters, and involve external agencies where required. Their judgement also informs safer recruitment, DBS processes and safeguarding risk assessments.

Jackie’s background in statutory education has shaped the standards she expects. As one of ISS’s longest-standing member organisations, West Ham draws on policies informed by statutory safeguarding expertise, adapting them to its football context. Membership also provides access to scheduled training and ongoing advice, alongside bespoke training commissioned around the Club’s particular requirements.

With approximately 500 core staff and a wider workforce of sessional workers, interns, contractors and people on placements, training needs arise throughout the year. ISS’s recurring programme allows colleagues to access training at different points as they join, while bespoke sessions bring football-specific situations into the discussion and help staff understand the reasoning behind safeguarding decisions.

For Jackie, the value lies in an ongoing professional relationship that combines independent challenge with an understanding of the organisation. Learning also works in both directions: training developed around West Ham’s experience has helped ISS understand the nuances of elite sport and inform its work more widely.