Up to £1.6million of National Lottery funding will be invested by Sport England in the successful city to run a pilot programme that unites public, private and voluntary organisations to do whatever it takes to get more people – particularly those aged 14-25 years old – playing all forms of the grassroots game.
Phil Smith, Director of Sport, says: “Whilst the number of people playing football regularly has declined, it is still one of England’s most popular sports and the unmet demand to play is high if the offer is right. From kick-abouts in the park to 5-a-side friendlies to 11-a-side leagues, we want to find the city that wants this title more than any other, that will do whatever it takes to get more people playing the game regularly.”
Expressions of interest are invited from consortiums of local partners that are committed to working together to deliver a ‘City of Football’. Applications should demonstrate commitment at the highest level and explain why this mix of local partners can together increase the number of people playing football in their city.
Further information about how to bid will be available at www.sportengland.org from Monday 28th April. The closing date for applications is 23rd May. A shortlist of cities will then be selected to explore in more detail their potential to be the 'City of Football'.
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For further information, please contact the Sport England press office:
Amy Wright: 020 7273 1593/ [email protected]
Jan Singleton: 020 7273 1800/ [email protected]
About Sport England
Sport England is focused on helping people and communities across the country create a sporting habit for life. We will invest over £1 billion of National Lottery and Exchequer funding between 2012 and 2017 in organisations and projects that will:
- Help more people have a sporting habit for life
- Create more opportunities for young people to play sport
- Nurture and develop talent
- Provide the right facilities in the right places
- Support local authorities and unlock local funding
- Ensure real opportunities for communities.
- The National Lottery has been changing lives for 18 years. Every week National Lottery players raise over £30 million to help change people's lives across the UK.