Football Foundation - Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund

The fund is a key part of the Football Foundation's Grass Pitch Improvement Programme - an ambition to deliver 20,000 quality grass pitches by 2030. To be eligible for this fund you need to own the freehold, have an uninterruptible lease of 10 years, have a licence for 10 years or have the written consent of the landowner.

Who is eligible?

All applicants must have the required security of tenure and have received a PitchPower Pitch Assessment Report.

• Grassroots clubs
• Leagues
• Charities (with an annual turnover of less than £500k)
• National League System Clubs Step 1-6 (only for pitches at the site that are used for community football)*

How much can we apply for?

Funding falls into two categories - enhance or sustain. Your PitchPower pitch inspection (a requirement of the grant) will provide you with a Performace Quality Standard (PQS) per pitch - which will help us decide how much funding you'll be eligible for - and a list of maintenance recommendations which you'll need to carry out as part of your grant award.

Funding ranges from £300 - £2,500 per pitch, dependant upon the type of pitch and the category they fall within.

What can the grant be spent on?

The funding provided must be used to carry out the recommendations from your PitchPower Assessment Report. These can include:

• Contractor works e.g. slitting, scarification or decompaction
• Purchasing materials e.g. seed or fertiliser
• Purchasing equipment e.g. Soil Sampler

Routine maintenance work such as grass cutting and line marking aren't eligible.

The deadline for completion of PitchPower inspections is 31 March 2022. The deadline for submission of applications to the Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund is 1 May 2022.