Football pitches to be revamped with £18k grant from FA and Premier League

Andrew Papworthin Football

A grassroots club has been given a valuable £18,200 grant by the FA and Premier League to improve its pitches - to help people "get back to playing football" after the pandemic.

Claydon FC is getting an £18,200 grant to improve its football pitches - Credit: Ella Wilkinson

The six-year tapered grant, which also comes from the government's Football Foundation, will help Claydon FC to improve the quality of its grass pitches and its training areas.

The club, which plays at Blue Circle, plans to use the money for applying fertiliser, aeration, seeding and other maintenance practices.

Tony Adams, head groundsman at Claydon FC, said: "This grant will allow myself and the grounds staff, who do an amazing job, to further improve the pitches at Blue Circle and in addition to ensure that the training areas, which are heavily used, are made more durable for future use."

Robert Sullivan, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: "This grant award to Claydon FC towards pitch and training area improvements is vital for the community in Claydon as they get back to playing football.

Tony Adams, head groundsman of Claydon FC - Credit: Ella Wilkinson

"Our Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund is supporting clubs across the country, helping them enhance and sustain their pitches to improve access to good quality facilities for grassroots players."

"This is part of our wider ambition to get more people involved in football, regardless of their background, age or ability.

"By unlocking the power of pitches, we can help transform the lives of players and strengthen communities through the nation's favourite game."

The grant comes as part of an investment of more than £16m that has been made available to help clubs prepare for the restart of grassroots football following Covid-19.

Last year, Copleston High School in Ipswich was awarded a £409,665 grant by the Premier League, FA and Football Foundation to create a state of the art new 3G facility - not only creating a better quality pitch, but expanding the numbers of people who can play.


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