Halo Solutions hosted its first ever KICKOFF conference at Watford FC this July, bringing together football safety, stewarding, control room and operations professionals for a practical day of pre-season conversations, learning and collaboration.

Held in the Elton John Suite at Watford FC, the event was created to give sports clubs and grounds the chance to step away from the day-to-day rush and focus on the things that matter before the new season begins: operational readiness, reporting, communication, accountability and the systems teams rely on when matchday pressure returns.

The idea behind KICKOFF//26 was simple: the first fixture should not be the first test.

Across the day, attendees heard from industry speakers and Halo’s own team on some of the key issues currently shaping football safety and sports ground operations, including Martyn’s Law, Showstop Procedure, Hillsborough Law, working effectively with Safety Advisory Groups, operational reporting, record keeping and how clubs can apply wider safety learnings through their Incident Management System.

Practical conversations before the season begins

The day opened with an interactive workshop from Steve Laws, founder of Taylor Bridges Consultancy, on Martyn’s Law and the role of training in compliance.

Steve encouraged clubs and venues to start preparing now, with spring 2027 already approaching, and highlighted the importance of identifying the Responsible Person early, reviewing Home Office guidance and turning compliance planning into practical operational action. He also introduced the new and approved SFJ AWARDS Level 3 Award in Counter-Terrorism Protective Security and Preparedness (CTPSaP)

Steve Allen, co-creator of the globally renowned Showstop® Procedure and keen advocate of the Pink Bows Foundation, then delivered a powerful session on how Showstop Procedure applies to sports club environments.

His session explored the importance of planning, practising and understanding Showstop Procedure before it is ever needed under pressure, with a strong focus on the human, legal, operational and reputational cost of a preventable death at a premises.

Halo Founder and CEO Lloyd Major also led a session on the upcoming Hillsborough Law and what a statutory Duty of Candour could mean for sports stadia.

Drawing on his policing, public safety and major incident experience, Lloyd explored why openness, accountability, clear decision trails and accurate records need to be built into safety-critical environments long before they are ever reviewed after an incident.

Working with your SAG

One of the day’s panel sessions focused on working with Safety Advisory Groups and managing SAG relationships, with guest speaker and panelist Joe Tyler offering a SAG perspective alongside club and operational voices.

The discussion explored what makes for a strong relationship between a club and its SAG, how friction between commercial and safety priorities can be managed, and why communication, transparency, trust and teamwork are so important.

The panel also touched on the wider debate around SAG consistency, standards and the role of SAGs as a link between multiple agencies — not as a body working against clubs.

Bringing the day back to the Halo System

The final session brought the day’s learning back into practical system use, with an interactive and guided look at Halo System features and updates.

The session explored how clubs can use Halo to support clearer reporting, stronger record keeping, better operational visibility, task follow-up and matchday readiness.

For football safety and operations teams, the session connected the dots between the themes discussed throughout the day and the practical reality of managing information, incidents, tasks and decisions before, during and after matchday.

Brilliant feedback from attendees

Feedback from the first KICKOFF//26 was extremely positive, with 100% of respondents saying they would attend again.

Attendees described the day as:

“Great to chat in the margins. Would encourage more to come.”

“The day flowed nicely and was useful and very informative.”

“Very insightful and one of the best conferences I have been to.”

For a first event, the response was exactly what Halo had hoped for: practical, honest, collaborative and genuinely useful for the people behind matchday.

Lloyd Major, Founder and CEO of Halo Solutions, said:

“Pre-season gives clubs a rare bit of breathing room to look at the things that become painful once fixtures start. KICKOFF//26 was about getting the right people in the room, sharing what works and helping football safety and operations teams feel more prepared before matchday pressure kicks back in.”

The start of something bigger…

Following the success of the first KICKOFF//26, Halo Solutions plans to continue building practical, sector-specific events and conversations for football clubs, sports grounds and safety-critical organisations.

A huge thank you to all of our speakers, to Watford FC for hosting us, and to everyone who came along, asked questions and helped make the day such a success.

Safe to say, KICKOFF//26 will not be the last.