People living in our area are set to benefit from fresh investment into local football facilities as Newton-le-Willows FC have been awarded a grant from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation, to upgrade their facility at Newton Sports Club.

The Football Foundation is the UK’s largest sports charity and exists to improve the experience of playing football for everyone, by championing fair access to quality facilities.
This grant will enable Newton-le-Willows FC's Male and Female senior teams, who play in the Warrington and Liverpool leagues respectively, to improve their grass pitch at Newton Sports Club. Furthermore, it’s junior section of 41 teams and circa 600 players will have the benefit in the years that follow.

Players will be able to enjoy a better quality pitch, which will represent a significant improvement on the existing facility which previously has been prone to waterlogging, bare patches and in general need of renovation.
Newton-le-Willows FC worked with the Football Foundation and Liverpool County Football Association to secure a £24,600 grant towards the project.

Jeff Taylor, Chairman of Newton-le-Willows FC commented “We are really grateful to the Football Foundation and Liverpool County FA who continually show their support in what we do. This grant will go a long way in enabling us to fund brand new top of the range machinery to provide a playing surface befitting of the facility.

As a club we have tried to utilise the time of no football due to the COVID-19 pandemic effectively by installing pitch side barriers with internal branding and advertising boards as per the imagery below. Thanks to the Football Foundation we received a grant to contribute to new roll on/off goals and we have dugouts on order. The missing piece of the project was the pitch itself and thanks to this grant we can invest in the correct machinery to effectively maintain the pitch for our members."

Robert Sullivan, Interim Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “We know the huge benefits playing regular football can have on individuals’ physical and mental well-being. That’s why we’re committed to transforming the face of grassroots football facilities in this country. It’s therefore very welcome news to hear that this funding will support Newton-le-Willows FC in developing their pitch improvement project for their local community.

“Working with our partners – the Premier League, The FA, government and Sport England – we will be investing in over £1bn worth of local facilities across the country over the next decade. We believe we can transform lives and strengthen communities by unlocking the power of pitches and this is another project that brings us closer to that ultimate goal.”

On behalf of everyone at the club we would like to thank the Football Foundation, Liverpool County FA and our own Club Chairman Jeff Taylor in securing the grant.