Football participation in West Riding bolstered thanks to funding from The FA

•  Funding schemes from The FA support new and established clubs

•  Grow the Game develops 38 new teams, while Retain the Game provides boost to 58 adult male clubs in West Riding

New figures show that football in West Riding is set to receive a significant boost over the next 12 months.

New investment provided by The FA, and delivered by the Football Foundation, has been announced that will support the growth and maintenance of 206 teams in the area which is expected to cater for 4,440 footballers in local leagues.

Grow the Game, which was first launched back in 2010, offers grants of £1,500 towards community football clubs wishing to establish new teams and this year focused on catering for female and disabled players.

A large number of clubs in West Riding have been successful in securing investment from The FA through the Football Foundation. Over the course of the next year, Grow the Game will support the growth of 36 female and two disabled teams

Retain the Game is a brand-new scheme, which was launched in April of this year, and is targeted at supporting existing adult male clubs to continue offering local opportunities to play. Grants of £750 are made to support the essential costs of playing and training.

See a list of the adult male football clubs in West Riding that have been accepted and received Retain the Game grants;

Retain the Game will help to maintain 58 adult male clubs in West Riding.

Funding from both grants can be used to help a club pay for FA coaching courses; FA league affiliation costs; referees’ fees; first aid kits; and even football kit and equipment through a bespoke voucher.

Danielle Carter, Member of The FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board and Arsenal Women’s Striker, said: “It’s extremely exciting that so many community clubs in England have successfully applied for Grow the Game funding.

“We should start to see increased numbers of women’s, girls and disability teams in parks and facilities across the country, which will hopefully inspire even more new players to take up, enjoy and continue to build the sport amongst these groups.”

Aidy Boothroyd, England Under-21s Head Coach, said: “It’s encouraging to see so many grassroots clubs up and down the country taking advantage of funding available through Retain the Game.

“Whilst the total number of adult male footballers in England has increased over the past few years, it is vital that regular playing opportunities continue to exist with teams in their local areas.

“I hope this new scheme will make a real difference across the country and help to maintain high levels of participation throughout the men’s game.”

Jo de Tute, Head of Football Development at West Riding FA, said: “The level of investment that we have seen coming into West Riding is fantastic, with £57,000 to support the growth of new teams in the female and disability game and £43,500 to support the retention of adult male teams.  As a County FA we are really proud of the hard work that all of our clubs and volunteers put in on a daily basis to continue the offer of local football and financial input like this just makes that process a little bit easier.”

Across the two campaigns, The FA has made £2.5 million available to grassroots clubs looking to either create or retain association football clubs for grassroots footballers across the country.

As well as Grow the Game and Retain 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 16,000 community projects worth more than £1.5bn.

In West Riding, the Football Foundation’s Funding Partner investment has helped to support the development of:

• 24 third generation artificial grass pitches
• 131 real grass pitches
• 48 changing pavilions