New £18m football facility fund launches

The Football Foundation has launched a new grant scheme that will invest in the development of new and enhanced local sports facilities across England and Wales.

Funded by the Premier League and delivered by the Football Foundation, The Premier League Community Facility Fund (PLCFF) will invest £18m into new or refurbished sports facilities over the next three years.

It is open to all football club community-led organisations from the Premier League, Football League, Football Conference, and the Conference's North and South divisions.

The first facility to benefit from the fund is Stretford High School in Lancashire, where a new, full-size floodlit third-generation artificial grass pitch has been built with the help of a £350,000 grant.

Located less than a mile from Old Trafford stadium, The Manchester United Foundation is a key partner of the project. The foundation will have 10 hours' free use of the facility each week and will see Kickz community project sessions being delivered at the site each week by the end of the first year.

Premier League CEO and Football Foundation trustee Richard Scudamore said: "The Premier League has been banging the drum for sports participation for many years now and it is heartening to see that this issue is moving higher up the political agenda.

"The Premier League Community Facility Fund is all about providing sports facilities that reinvigorate local communities. So this £18m of funding, which is available to 160 clubs across seven divisions of English football, is investment that will have a lasting impact."