Boris Johnson: Sport investment will get us ready for the World Cup bid

A Conservative Majority Government will put a £550 million investment in grassroots football at the centre of its plans to back a UK and Ireland World Cup 2030 bid, Boris Johnson has announced today. 

The new investment, the biggest ever Government boost for grassroots football, will underline the Conservatives’ support for the bid and demonstrate its vision for the tournament as a catalyst that will unleash the power of the game at a community level and deliver a legacy to match that of the 2012 London Olympics. 

This four-fold increase in investment is part of a £2 billion plan to transform grassroots football that will mean, by the time of the 2030 World Cup, every family in England will be, on average, 15 minutes from a great local football pitch – turbocharging the current 25-year programme to deliver 2,000 new astroturf pitches and fix 20,000 grass pitches in a decade.

The move comes in response to an audit of playing facilities that has found that only one in three grassroots football pitches in England are currently of adequate quality – an issue that led to the cancellation of 150,000 matches across the country last season.

Following the inspirational example of the Lionesses earlier this year, this investment will also support the growth in women’s football by making sure every bid includes plans to increase opportunities for female participation. And it will benefit disadvantaged communities most with 40 per cent of the investment going to the most deprived 20 per cent of the country.

This comes alongside a boost in school sport with increased investment in training for primary school teachers in PE and a new fund to improve school sports facilities to encourage their use out of hours. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

“This great country is the home of football. Over the last year and a half our men’s and women’s teams have done us proud of as a country and our years of hurt are surely coming to an end. 

“If elected next week with a Conservative majority, I as Prime Minister will put my heart and soul behind the case for a UK and Ireland World Cup in 2030. I want this tournament to be about more than just football. I want it to transform lives with a legacy to match the 2012 Olympics.

“Above all, I want it to be a demonstration of our ambition as a nation and our rediscovered confidence as we finally end three years of delay and deadlock in parliament.

“So let’s make 2020 the year where we break out of the shackles, get Brexit done and unleash our potential. And let’s make 2030 the year of the UK and Ireland World Cup.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact the Conservative Party press office on 0207 984 8121 

Notes to Editors

·         A Conservative majority Government will invest in grassroots football, ahead of the World Cup bid. Over the next ten years we will invest an additional £550m into community sports facilities to ensure that our bid to host a UK and Ireland World Cup delivers a transformative legacy. Our investment is a clear message that a World Cup bid under a Conservative Government would receive the fullest support. More than just giving the normal bid commitments, we are using the bid as a brilliant catalyst to unleash the power of the game at a community level.

·         A four-fold increase in Government investment. A Conservative majority Government will increase the investment in grassroots facilities from £180 million to £730 million over the next decade. The overall cost of the National Football Facilities Strategy transformation programme is £2 billion - the remaining £1.27 billion of funding would be leveraged from the funding partners like the FA, the Premier League and local partnership funding.

·         Thousands more community pitches. The FA has identified that only one in three grassroots football pitches in England are of adequate quality. One in six community matches are called off due to poor pitch quality. This investment will deliver 2,000 new artificial, astroturf pitches and fix 20,000 grass pitches (reducing the 150,000 matches cancelled each year). The programme will benefit disadvantaged communities most with 40 per cent of investment will be in the 20 per cent of most deprived areas.

·         Supporting the growth in women’s football. Every bid for funding will have to provide a football usage plan before they get the grant. That plan will assesses a number of factors including whether equal playing opportunities will be provided for girls. Bids without good plans to both provide for existing demand and encourage and accommodate future demand will not be funded.

·         Not only football will feel the benefit of this investment. A Conservative majority Government will make sure all major new facilities are built to accommodate a range of different sports. Many existing community football facilities are multisport – the Football Foundations current rules state that at least 40 per cent of all its projects must provide multi-sport offerings, and that will continue. 

·         A Conservative majority Government will invest in teacher training for better PE. We will invest £17 million over the next three years to extend Sport England’s successful secondary teacher training programme down to primary schools. This will reach over half of all primary schools in England. Schools would be asked to contribute some of their PE and Sport Premium funding to contribute towards the costs of this training.

·         £15 million a year to improve the school sports estate. A Conservative majority Government will set up a fund to improve school sport facilities and help to open them up outside the school day – meaning more after-school and holiday clubs, as well as more access for the community. We will invest £15m a year – a doubling of Sport England’s existing £15m Community Asset Fund – targeted specifically at school facilities.

·         We are increasing Ofsted’s focus on sport and inspecting PE. We will ask Ofsted to specifically inspect and report on the quality of PE in schools and to increase their focus on school sport overall. This will cover both primary and secondary schools. Ofsted will be able to look at how the PE and Sport Premium is being spent, which will help drive good practice. 

·         We support the supporters. In our Manifesto, we committed a Conservative majority Government to supporting football fans by:

·         We introduced and have doubled the PE and Sports Premium in Government to £320 million. Last year we announced we were doubling the funding that primary schools receive to improve the quality of their PE and sport provision from £160 million to £320 million a year (DfE, News Story, 24 October 2017, link.)

·         We have published a School Sports Action Plan, which looked at increasing the opportunities for competitive sport; training more staff; and increasing the profile of competitive sport between schools (HM Government, School Sport Action Plan, July 2019, link).