New football pitch named for star Lioness Ella Toone as government launches thousands of new grassroots sports facilities to get more people active

• More than 1,600 new and improved multi-sports grassroot facilities across England are benefiting from Government support
• The ‘Ella Toone Pitch’ at William Fosters Hub in Wigan is latest site to mark Lionesses class of EURO 2022
• Ongoing UK-wide £300 million capital investment in grassroots facilities continues to improve access for thousands and nurture tomorrow’s sports talent

EUROs-winning Lioness Ella Toone has unveiled a football pitch named in her honour, as the Government and its Football Foundation partners the Premier League and The FA confirm investment in thousands of grassroots sports facilities to get more people playing sport on quality pitches.

Toone, a goal scorer for the victorious England team at the UEFA Women’s Euros 2022, unveiled a 3G pitch as part of a £6.3 million redevelopment of the William Fosters Hub facility in Wigan that will open to the public later this summer.

Across England, the Government is investing £64 million, working alongside its Football Foundation partners the Premier League and The FA, to build and upgrade 1,600 grassroots sports sites this year to level up access to high quality sports facilities.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

We are committed to levelling up access to sport which is so important for the nation’s physical and mental health.

Today we are delivering more than 1,600 new and improved grassroots sports facilities across the country to continue to support, sustain and grow community and grassroots sport - so that physical activity is accessible to all, no matter a person’s background or location.

We are continuing to celebrate the success of the Lionesses - with the ‘Ella Toone Pitch’ enabling the generation of women and girls inspired by them to get active and involved.

The funding will deliver upgrades, improvements and new pitches - making more high quality facilities available for people to play football, hockey and other grassroots sports. Projects support a range of facility types -  from the creation or upgrade of changing rooms, grass pitches and 3G football turf pitches and pavilions, to floodlights, fencing and improved disabled access.

Facilities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will benefit from £3.8 million being invested by the Government in partnership with the FAs in each home nation.

The Ella Toone Pitch is the second of 23 Football Foundation-funded pitches that will be named after each of the Lionesses to honour their UEFA Women’s EUROs victory last summer and inspire the next generation of women and girls to get involved in the beautiful game.

Ella Toone, Lioness forward, said:

It feels just like yesterday that I was a kid kicking a ball around just a few miles from here but already so much has changed in the women’s game. It’s so exciting to see more and more women and girls wanting to play football and the amazing new facilities here will allow them to do just that.

As a Lioness I feel a responsibility to be a role model for the next generation and it’s such an honour to do that with a pitch named after me in my hometown. I’m so grateful to the Football Foundation for the opportunity to inspire local girls to fall in love with the game just like I did.

A central aim of the programme is to level up access to community sports facilities and invest in some of the most deprived areas in the UK to give as many people as possible the opportunity to take part in sport. To achieve this, and to deliver the access to facilities that every community deserves, at least 50% per cent of investment will be spent in underprivileged areas.

This site is one of over 2,200 across the UK to have benefited so far from the Government’s four-year £300 million capital investment into grassroots multi-sports facilities. Between 2021 and 2025, £261 million of Government funding will be delivered in England, alongside  funding from Football Foundation partners the Premier League and The FA.

Some of the facilities to benefit from this year’s round of investment in England include:

• Bottesford Town FC in Lincolnshire has received over £950,000 for new 3G pitches;
• AFC North Kilworth in Harborough has received almost £100,000 for a new pavilion;
• Manchester Maccabi Community & Sports Club in Bury has received almost £125,000 for a new grass pitch;
• St Peters Playing Field in North Tyneside has received more than £1.8 million for new 3G pitches, changing rooms and a county football association headquarters;
• Roach Dynamos FC in Rochdale has received more than £530,000 for a new pavillion;
• The Groundwork South Trust Limited in Cornwall has received more than £125,000 for a new grass pitch and floodlights;
• South Park Sport Association in Reigate has received almost £450,000 for a new 3G pitch;
• Mersham Sports Club in Ashford has received almost £470,000 for new grass pitches.

See the list of facilities to benefit in England.

40% per cent of the funding will be used to support multi-sport facilities, ensuring a wide range of sports are supported and helping to deliver benefits beyond football. The programme has a particular focus on increasing participation among underrepresented groups such as women and girls, and those with a disability.

Robert Sullivan, CEO, Football Foundation said:

Ella and the Lionesses are a great showcase of how important quality grassroots facilities are for the women’s game. Many of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 squad, including Ella, started their pathway to stardom on facilities funded by the Football Foundation. It’s vital the next generation has access to great places to play.

Thanks to investment from the Premier League, The FA and Government, the Football Foundation is directing more money than ever into supporting the grassroots game. Every one of the facilities we fund will provide equal access for women and girls. That means providing safe, accessible and inclusive environments for women and girls from their journey to the site right up to their first step onto the pitch.

Notes to editors:

• Today’s announcement covers the funding allocations from 2022/23.
• Further details on the successful applicants benefitting from 2023/24 funding will be announced in due course.
• Details on how to get facilities investment in your area can be found at the Football Foundation for England, the SFA for Scotland, the CFF for Wales, and IFA for Northern Ireland.
• The Government is helping to drive the growth of women’s and girl’s sport, and continues to build on the legacy of the Lionesses’ success. The Lionesses were the first England football team to secure a major tournament win in more than 50 years.
• The ‘Ella Toone Pitch’ was unveiled in a ceremony alongside community players and representatives from the Premier League, The FA and the Football Foundation. It will support the growth of women’s, disabled and recreational football in the Wigan area.
• The recent UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 tournament provided over 416,000 new opportunities for girls and women to play and be involved in football, including increasing the number of playing, coaching, officiating and volunteering opportunities across host cities.
• The Government is also continuing to take steps to ensure that, as a nation, we continue to nurture the talent of the future and capitalise on the unprecedented commercial success of women’s football in recent years. The current Review of the Future of Women’s Football, chaired by Karen Carney will look at how to deliver bold and sustainable growth of the women’s game at elite and grassroots level.
• Details of the Women’s Review of Football.
• Further information on the split of grassroots facilities funding between the four home nations, announced in January.
• To secure the Lionesses legacy, the 23 sites chosen to honour the squad were selected based on a requirement to provide a level of access based on the local need to women and girls’ teams. The move was also designed to support the Football Association’s ambition for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 to create 500,000 extra opportunities for women and girls to play football.
• The Government remains a major supporter of women’s football and is working to improve access and build on its commercial success for the long term. Working alongside the FA, the Government is determined to achieve their ambition of equal access to football for girls in 90% of schools by 2024, and the £600 million PE and School Sports Premium School Sport and Activity Action Plan will help more girls to take part in sport and physical activity.