The Football Foundation have expanded the focus of their fund to include Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire and North Riding ©Football Foundation

The Football Foundation has announced an expansion to their Emergency Football Relief Fund to help to repair grassroots facilities in Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire and North Riding regions.

Storms across the North of England has resulted in flooding in several areas and the £750,000 ($1.1 million/€1 million) fund is aimed at rebuilding football pitches and facilities which have been damaged as a consequence.

It is hoped that with the emergency relief that facilities can be restored as quickly as possible to enable football to continue across the areas which have been affected.

In addition to grassroots football, clubs across all levels of the Football Association’s National League System that require assistance to make facilities safe and fit for purpose are also eligible to apply for funding.

The county football associations of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Liverpool, Manchester, North Riding, Northumberland, Westmorland and West Riding are now set to be the focus of the fund following the Football Foundation’s decision to expand their scheme.

While those regions are set to be the focus of efforts, the foundation have stated that their relief efforts are not limited to those areas.

The fund has been made up of £500,000 ($737,000/€679,000), which has been invested by the Premier League and the FA Facilities Fund, with the remaining £250,000 ($369,000/€340,000)coming from the Premier League backed Football Stadia Improvement Fund.

Organisations have been encouraged to contact their County FA to find out more information on how to receive financial assistance.

Flooding has damaged pitches across the north of England ©Twitter
Flooding has damaged pitches across the north of England ©Twitter

A similar emergency flood relief fund was established by Sport England earlier this week, with the £200,000 ($295,000/€271,000) initially available but the sum has now been increased to £400,000 ($590,000/€542,000).

People can apply for National Lottery funding to help get facilities back running as quickly as possible, with the funds available to sports clubs, local authorities and other community sports organisations.

It is hoped that football, rugby and cricket pitches, water sports centres, pavilions, changing rooms and floodlights across the flood affected areas can be repaired.

Clubs, charities and organisation can apply for up to £5,000 ($7,500/€7.000) of emergency funding by visiting the Sport England website.