English Grassroots Football Receives £102 Million Fund Boost

A new fund has been created to help grassroots football in England, the Football Association, the Premier League and the government announced today. 

The governing bodies invested £102m to increase participation at every level of the game through improvements in the availability of venues and coaching.

Alex Horne, the FA’s general secretary, said: “The funding that the FA has invested through the Football Foundation has dramatically improved local football facilities up and down the country and is a key part of the FA’s four-year National Game Strategy, a £200 million investment into the grassroots game.

“These enhanced facilities increase opportunities for young people to become involved in football, whether as players or coaches, and it is this work which feeds into helping to produce the next generation of English football talent.

“Our announcement really is an excellent example of how much can be achieved when football’s governing bodies work in partnership with government to deliver a highly efficient investment programme into facilities across the country.”

The news comes just a week after FA chairman Greg Dyke formed a commission aimed at improving the infrastructure of the national game, a commission which has already been criticised by the likes of FA director Heather Rabbatts.