£1.5m for Grow the Game to support grassroots football clubs
Howard Lake | 2 February 2017 | News
The Football Association is investing £1.5 million in the Grow the Game scheme, the funding programme designed to increase participation at the lowest levels of the game.
The funding, which will be handled by the Football Foundation, the nation’s largest sports charity, will be used in particular to support grassroots football clubs that wish to create new teams. Applications are now open and are being encouraged in particular from:
- women and girls
- male teams of under-14s-and-upwards
- disabled teams.
Grow the Game supports football’s diversity and is “designed to be inclusive of players from different genders, ethnic backgrounds, faiths, ages, sexual orientations and those with disabilities”.
£1,500 per new team
Grow the Game grants of £1,500 are available for each new team that a club creates. Funding can help a club pay for:
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- FA coaching courses
- FA league affiliation costs
- referees’ fees
- first aid kits
- football kit and equipment.
Applications for Grow the Game grants are open from 1 February until Wednesday 29 March 2017.
Alex Scott, right-back for Arsenal Ladies and England Women, is supporting the scheme. She said:
“As a player, for me and for all of the team, it’s important to us that we inspire and encourage more girls and women to play the game. Funding like this will really help us drive the numbers of players.
“It’s great to see that one of the key targets of Grow the Game is to raise participation levels among women and girls. I know the funding will also help boys’ teams and disabled players and really demonstrates what an inclusive game football is.
“We’ve got a massive year for the women’s game, particularly with the Euros taking place this summer, and hopefully clubs will make the most of the funding available to set up more female teams to take advantage of the interest.”
Gareth Southgate: small grants make a huge difference
England Men’s Senior Manager and Football Foundation Ambassador, Gareth Southgate, said:
“It’s relatively small grants like these which make a huge difference to those who play or volunteer in our national game purely for the love of it.
“For anyone wanting to create a new grassroots football team or even start up a brand new club, Grow the Game funding is vital. The money can help with the fundamentals of any burgeoning club, like buying new kit or training up coaches.”
Grow the Game in 2016
Grow the Game is delivered by the Football Foundation, the nation’s largest sports charity. Last year the scheme supported:
- 2,159 new teams.
- 8,787 female footballers.
- 23,332 male footballers.
- 5,715 new coaching qualifications.
As well as delivering Grow the Game, the Football Foundation delivers the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund on behalf of the Premier League, The FA and the Government, through Sport England. Since 2000, the Foundation has supported over 15,000 grassroots projects worth more than £1.4 billion.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.