The facilities are to receive grants worth a total of £5.6 million ($8.5 million/€7.5 million) from the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund, launched in 2013 with the aim of upgrading grass-roots infrastructure and coaching.

The fund is managed and delivered by the Football Foundation, the UK's largest sports charity, which was established some 15 years ago.

A Foundation spokesman explained that a proportion of the cost of any given project is generally provided, with the balance obtained from other sources such as local councils and businesses.

On this occasion, a further £12.1 million ($18.4 million/€16.1 million) in partnership funding was generated, bringing to £17.7 million ($27 million/€23.6 million) the overall sum to be invested through the foundation in the current so-called "funding window".

Two previous tranches of investment from the fund, totalling £12.8 million ($19.5 million/€17 million, were awarded during the course of last year.

These yielded a further £32.7 million ($50 million/€44 million) in partnership funding.

In a longer term sense, it is hoped the funding will help boost the performances of the England national team ©Getty Images



The new awards will bring to 235 the number of projects - from Middlesbrough in the north to Nailsea in the south - to benefit from fund contributions since it opened to applications just over a year ago.

Greg Dyke, FA chairman, said: "Investment by the FA through the Football Foundation continues to make a genuine impact on the quality of football facilities up and down the country.

"This latest tranche of funding presents even more opportunities to boost grass roots and deliver a highly efficient investment programme into facilities across the country."

Helen Grant, the UK's Sports Minister, described the fund as "a fantastic collaboration between government and the football authorities that is helping to strengthen the national game's grass-roots right across the country".

She went on: "Good facilities...are crucial to encourage and sustain participation as well as help develop the next generation of talent."

According to data from Sport England, a total of 15.6 million people aged 16 and over played sport at least once a week in the year to October 2014.

The number of weekly footballers was put at 1.9 million.

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