National Football Facilities Strategy
National strategy to guide facilities investment
IMPROVING THE FOOTBALL EXPERIENCE
The National Football Facilities Strategy (NFFS) sets out the Football Foundation’s ambition to transform England’s grassroots game over the next ten years. It aims to deliver thousands of new pitches, while also investing in the improvement of existing grass pitches and off-pitch facilities across the country.
The FA, Premier League and Sport England have developed the national strategy to guide our facilities investment priorities over the next ten years and unlock the power of football to transform more lives.
The NFFS includes all Local Football Facility Plans, the Grass Pitch Improvement Strategy, and the Football Stadia Improvement Fund.
It focuses on the four main facility types that will have a major impact on grassroots football: grass pitch improvement, 3G football turf pitches, changing rooms and pavilions, and small-sided spaces.
Get in touch
Daniel McElhone
(Facilities & Investment Officer)
T: 0191 3872928 (Option 3)
Grass Pitch Improvement
Currently the condition of natural grass pitches in England is of a poor standard (63% of pitches) and research indicates that this is the number one facility issue cited by players, coaches and leagues. The vision of the national funding partners and the Football Foundation is to deliver an improvement programme on a transformational scale that will sustainably increases grass pitch quality across all main pitch providers (local authorities, education establishments and clubs).
3G Turf Pitches
3G pitches are a high quality and essential part of modern football. The impact they make cannot be underestimated and this is only set to increase as we aim address the significant under-supply of pitches by to more than doubling existing stock by investing in 1,000+ additional pitches.
Changing Pavilions and clubhouses
Changing room pavilions/clubhouses provide several benefits. While the primary function is often associated with the changing rooms to facilitate match-play and training (for players and officials), in the context of pavilions there is equal value in facilities such as community and education rooms, catering facilities and spectator toilets. Pavilions should support other investment priorities (3G and grass pitches) and be located at sites that will make the biggest impact on local communities.
Small-Sided Spaces
Small-sided football is an umbrella term used to describe the different formats of the small-sided game; from teams and leagues to recreational and informal. It is an established and important part of the modern game with a significant market of 13.1m people in England. Projects could include Indoor, multi-use games areas (MUGA’s), and parks and open green spaces.
SUSTAINING SUCCESS
NFFS: MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORK
There are five success factors to every project and these are captured in the National Football Facility Strategy: Measurement Framework.
This framework is completely aligned to The FA’s priorities in the National Game Strategy. It therefore important that each project seeking investment meets these success factors and that the football outcomes are maximised.
While it is not essential that every project delivers every outcome – applicants should be appropriately challenged to create ambitious plans that are diverse and inclusive of all sections for the community and offer a balanced approach to develop all formats for football.