Six sustainability wishes for football in 2026, inspired by Tottenham, Wolves and Manchester City | OneFootball

Football is very good at talking about the future. About growth, global reach and what the game might look like in five or 10 years’ time.

It has been slower to confront the environmental cost of that future, even as the climate conversation has moved from abstract warning to daily reality.

Sustainability in football is no longer a fringe issue or a nice add-on for glossy reports; it is about how the sport operates, what it consumes and what behaviours it normalises.

As we begin the new year, here are six sustainability-related measures Pledgeball would like to see embedded more deeply across the game in 2026.

Tottenham Hotspur have shown that sustainable matchday catering does not have to mean compromise. Their emphasis on plant-based options, responsibly sourced ingredients and a reduced reliance on high-carbon foods has set a benchmark in English football. Crucially, it has been done at scale, in one of the largest stadiums in the country, without alienating supporters.

The hope for 2026 is that more clubs recognise matchday food as a genuine lever for change, not a token gesture. What fans eat before kick-off matters, and football has the reach to shift habits simply by making the sustainable choice the easiest and most appealing one.

Wider adoption of ‘green hedging’ in the transfer market

The transfer market is rarely associated with environmental responsibility, yet it carries a significant carbon footprint through international travel, scouting networks and commercial activity. Wolves’ exploration of “green hedging”, investing in environmental projects to offset the emissions linked to major transfers, offers a glimpse of how clubs might begin to take responsibility for that impact.

It is not a silver bullet and offsetting should never replace reduction, but it represents an important shift in mindset. By 2026, we would like to see more clubs at least measuring the environmental cost of their transfer activity and being transparent about how they attempt to mitigate it.

Greater investment in solar panels and rainwater reuse at stadiums and training grounds

If football wants visible, long-term sustainability gains, infrastructure is the place to look. Manchester City’s academy, which incorporates extensive solar panel installations, is often cited as an example of how renewable energy can be baked into elite football facilities from the ground up.

Rainwater harvesting systems, already used in parts of the game, remain underutilised given their potential to reduce water waste and operating costs.

These are not flashy signings or headline-grabbing initiatives, but they are the kind of investments that quietly reshape a club’s environmental footprint for decades. By 2026, stadiums and training grounds without such features should feel outdated rather than aspirational.

Club-led climate education within academies and among fans

Football clubs sit at the heart of their communities, with unparalleled access to young people and a platform that reaches millions. Yet structured climate education within academies is still inconsistent, and fan engagement often stops at surface-level messaging.

Our wish is that clubs begin to treat environmental literacy as part of their responsibility, integrating it into youth development programmes and community outreach. For supporters, this could mean clearer information about sustainable travel, food and consumption choices linked to the club. The aim is not to lecture, but to use football’s cultural pull to make climate-aware behaviour feel normal rather than niche.

An end to the waste caused by the constant churn of kits

Few aspects of modern football illustrate its waste problem more clearly than the relentless release of new kits. Annual, and sometimes mid-season, launches encourage fans to discard perfectly wearable shirts in favour of marginal design tweaks, fuelling textile waste and fast-fashion habits.

Some clubs have experimented with longer kit cycles or recycling schemes, but these remain exceptions rather than the rule. In 2026 – fanciful though it may be! – we would like to see a slowdown: fewer launches, longer use periods and meaningful reuse or take-back programmes. Shirts should be symbols of identity and continuity, not disposable commodities.

Travel remains the biggest source of football’s carbon emissions, particularly when it comes to journeys on matchdays. The Pledgeball Sustainable Travel Charter is a voluntary framework developed by Pledgeball in partnership with the Football Supporters’ Association to help football clubs reduce the environmental impact of team travel by prioritising more sustainable transport options such as trains and buses over short-haul flights.

The initiative responds to concerns about the high carbon emissions generated by frequent flying and offers guidance that balances sustainability with player wellbeing, fixture timing and security considerations. By signing up, clubs publicly commit to greener travel practices, setting a visible example for fans and other teams. Fourteen EFL clubs are already on board, but more joining the charter could normalise low-carbon travel and significantly lower football’s overall transport footprint, while inspiring supporters to adopt similar habits.

None of these wishes require football to reinvent itself overnight. They ask instead for consistency, ambition and a willingness to see sustainability as central rather than peripheral. For a sport obsessed with marginal gains, the irony is that environmental responsibility may be one of the clearest opportunities football has to make a meaningful difference, one practical decision at a time.