Thu, January 15, 2026
Cambridge United first to join new abuse reporting app
Cambridge United is the first football club in the country to join the Football Safety App, backed by former England and Liverpool player Emile Heskey, to help tackle abuse within football. Heskey encountered racism during his career but highlighted that it would have been much more intense if social media was as prevalent as it is today.
Football Safety App launched last month to help resolve the “escalating abuse crisis in football, online, in stadiums and beyond.” Cambridge United will use the app for the first time on 27 January 2026 for a home match against Shrewsbury Town.
The app offers clubs that sign up access to a real-time reporting mechanism. A 24-hour control room will operate where trained analysts escalate verified cases to clubs, online platforms and the police. Along with clubs, the app works directly with digital platforms and the police to ensure abuse is dealt with, “helping ensure serious incidents are handled appropriately and consistently.”
The self-funded app is free to download and use and once downloaded, users are enrolled automatically in the club’s fixtures, ready for them to report abuse anonymously, if necessary, from stadiums, concourses, pubs, public transport and across online platforms and social media.
Users are also rewarded for engagement, encouraging witnesses to report abuse. It is already available for download via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Furthermore, “clubs benefit from anonymised data and insight that highlights patterns, hotspots and repeat issues.”
Cambridge United’s Safeguarding officer, Sarah King, stated that the club is “proud to be leading the way in helping to make football safer and more enjoyable for everyone.” The club also promotes its matchday phone and text line to report incidents, as well as an online form on its website. It also encourages its supporters to use another app called Kick It Out.
Head of Operations at Cambridge United, Rich Cooksley, stated that: “this pioneering software will allow our supporters to have a simple and efficient way of reporting any incidents.”
Heskey voiced: “Cambridge United becoming the first club to formally sign up shows real leadership and a willingness to act. We can’t keep saying abuse is unacceptable and then doing nothing about it. This is how change starts, and I hope others now follow their lead.”
Cambridge United’s statement can be found here.
