FTBLRLIFE, a global grassroots football platform, has announced plans to launch its services in Ghana as part of a broader expansion into the African football market. The company, which already operates in more than 130 countries, seeks to create a digital ecosystem that connects players, coaches, academies and football businesses, allowing them to share stories and discover opportunities.
Ghana’s football landscape is rich with talent, yet many young players, especially those outside established academies, struggle to gain visibility. From community pitches and school teams to privately run academies, the country’s grassroots network serves as the starting point for many professionals. FTBLRLIFE believes technology can bridge gaps between these players and the wider football industry.
The platform enables players to build profiles that showcase their journeys, connect with coaches and academies, follow football-related stories and gain visibility for opportunities. Academies can use the service to manage teams, organise rosters and events, share updates and showcase their talent to a global audience.
FTBLRLIFE’s expansion into Ghana focuses on three key areas: organising the fragmented grassroots community, increasing visibility for talent and providing support to the grassroots game. The company currently partners with more than 1,000 academies worldwide and claims its programmes have impacted over 27,000 children. It also operates the FTBLRLIFE Foundation, which supplies under-resourced football communities with equipment through its Foundation Ball programme, embedding QR technology on balls to link beneficiaries, donors and the wider community.
Founder David Clarke said the global football industry continues to overlook a significant part of the game. “Valerie Nekesa was found playing barefoot in a village in Kenya. She just scored at a World Cup and signed with CD Tenerife. That is one story. There are millions more waiting,” he said. The company estimates that more than 500 million players make up the global grassroots football market, many of whom remain invisible because the sport is spread across disconnected academies, social media pages, messaging groups and local networks.
In Ghana, FTBLRLIFE hopes to bring players and organisations onto one platform while creating links between local grassroots football and the international community. The move comes as Ghana continues to rely heavily on its grassroots system as a pathway for developing players for the domestic game and the Black Stars. Several Ghanaian players who have gone on to successful careers in Europe began their journeys on local pitches and through youth academies, making the platform’s Ghana strategy closely watched by academies and young players seeking alternative routes to exposure and opportunities outside the traditional scouting system.
FTBLRLIFE says its ultimate goal is to give grassroots football a home and ensure that talent is not limited by geography or access to established football networks. With Ghana now firmly in its sights, the platform is hoping to make the country’s grassroots football community part of that global network.
