FA announce record £260m investment in future England stars

The FA are promising more investment for places like St Georges PArk

THE Football Association has announced a record investment of £260m in grass roots football over the next four years as the organisation seeks to encourage a new generation of players.

 

The figure represents an increase of £60m on the previous four year period.

The National Game Strategy for Participation and Development between now and 2019 was launched by FA Chief Executive Martin Glenn in Leyland yesterday.

Investment will be supplemented by a further multi-million investment supported by the Government in the creation of new hubs in 30 cities across England.

 

Women's football is one area set to benefit from the new money

Sheffield has been a pilot for the scheme with Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester also set to benefit.

“There are challenges facing grassroots football both in terms of facilities and coaching,” said Glenn. “Today we have set out how we will tackle the challenges head on.

 “We have identified four key areas in which we have committed to investing £260 million over the next four years – facilities, coaching, participation and developing the football workforce. Our goals are ambitious, but achievable.”

Kelly Simmons MBE, FA Director for Participation and Development, said: “It is no secret that facilities need to get better – today we set out clearly and unequivocally how we can make that happen – not only through the creation of  city hubs, but also investing in improving what already exists.

“Our relationship with the Premier League and DCMS through our commitment to the Football Foundation is key to achieving this.

 

"Having recognised the benefits of achieving Charter Standard status, 85 per cent of youth teams in England now have a qualified coach, which accounts for nearly one million Under 16s benefiting from such access. Alongside that we have seen the growth of youth football by 5,000 new teams since 2011.

 “We have come a long way in youth football and it is a similar story in women’s and disability football. We know that 40,000 more girls and women are playing football regularly in the past two years and this is without the increased profile thee England women’s team have brought to the sport.”

The investment from the FA, which comes at a time when the organisation is looking to save £30m-a-year with cuts behind the scenes, will seek to grow football at youth, womens’ and disability levels.

The hub scheme comes with many pitches – 83 of which are owned by schools and local authorities - around the country are closing due to a lack of finance.

The FA is committing £50m to that over the next five years which will be matched by the Government.