On Wednesday 24 August, Gareth Southgate joined forces with the Premier League, the FA and Government’s Football Foundation to announce that by 2025, the charity plan to commit 40 per cent of its investment, worth a projected £92m over the next three years, into multi-sport projects.
The funds will support both football and an additional sport, such as rugby, cricket, netball, and basketball. This will benefit the landscape of sport across the country, ensuring people will be able to access more places to play for more of the nation’s favorite sports.
Southgate was joined at Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub by Eddie Jones (England Men’s Rugby Union Head Coach), Heather Knight OBE (Captain of the England Women’s Cricket Team) as well as Shaun Wane and Craig Richards (England Men’s and Women’s Rugby League Head Coaches) to make the announcement and launch PitchPower, the Football Foundation’s web app that will revolutionize the condition of grass pitches in England.
Initially launched to football in 2020, the app is now available for Rugby League, with Rugby Union set to go live at the RFU’s ‘Pitch Up For Rugby’ season opener on 17/18 September, and cricket to follow at the start of the next season.
Free to use, PitchPower will see every community club and organization across cricket, rugby league, rugby union, and football, given the ability to carry out their own sport specific grass pitch inspections. Once an inspection is submitted, grass pitch experts at the Grounds Management Association produce an assessment report with bespoke advice and recommendations to improve the grass pitch quality at a site.
Along with the support in inspections, £15m of Sport England National Lottery funding will be made available via the Foundation to support the improvement of grass pitches at cricket, Rugby League and Rugby Union grounds the length and breadth of the country over the next three years . From Spring 2023, clubs and organizations using PitchPower to submit their inspections will have the opportunity to apply for funding to support making the improvements identified through the app.
The multi-sport commitment will also see the first Football Foundation PlayZones open in 2023, thanks to additional investment of £13.5m from the Premier League. These small-sided sports facilities will provide accessible outdoor facilities that bring communities together through recreational forms of football and a range of other sports.
England Men’s Football Manager, and Football Foundation Supporter, Gareth Southgate, said:PitchPower is going to be a game changer for grass pitch sports in this country. Around 90 per cent of the affiliated football game is played on grass but we know that millions of players are left disappointed every year when their matches are canceled due to poor quality pitches, something the Football Foundation and its partners are working tirelessly to prevent.
“With the funding that cricket and rugby clubs will be able to unlock by undertaking inspections with PitchPower, a greater number of pitches across these sports will be of better quality. This means more opportunities to play and get active which is hugely important to the nation’s physical and mental wellbeing.”
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