The #TakeBackOurGame campaign launches to save grassroots football
- Football is Britain’s most popular sport and over the last decade the beautiful game has slowly become a billion-pound business.
- While England’s first division, the Premier League, is thriving like never before, Grassroots football is in a crisis.
- That’s why it’s finally time to #TakeBackOurGame.
The #TakeBackOurGame campaign has one goal, to make the government impose a 5% levy on the Premier Leagues revenue from television rights, for investment into grassroots football.
A staggering £1.4billion was spent by Premier League clubs in the 2019 summer transfer window, which meant spending on transfers smashed the £1billion threshold for the fourth year running. While England’s biggest clubs are spending inconceivable amounts, cuts by the government and local councils are suffocating grassroots football.
Outdoor and indoor facilities alike are in decline, as the bottom of the football pyramid is now, in some parts, in disrepair.
The Football Foundation, the UK’s largest sports charity, which is responsible for distributing money from the Football Association, the Premier League and the government into grassroots sport recently described the state of facilities across the country as “in a shameful state”.
The foundation receives £72m between the Premier League (£24m), the FA (£30m) and the government (£18m) and since 2000 it has awarded over 1,700 grants to develop sites across the country.
Despite this investment, grassroots football finds itself struggling and underfunded and it’s frightening to contemplate what the game would look like without the foundation’s work.
This website illustrates why our goal should come to fruition, through relying on industry experts, while also looking closely at Newbiggen Hall FC, a grassroots club in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
To help our cause, you can sign the petition at: http://chng.it/YXdZ5Sd6
You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram and like us on Facebook.
It’s time to save grassroots football.