Grass
roots football in Rugby has
scored an unprecedented £1.5m
cash bonanza from the UK’s largest
sports charity, the Football
Foundation.
The
£1,514,589 cash boost will be
shared between the town’s two
major community clubs.Rugby Town Junior Football
Club netted £951,789 to construct
a football centre, housing a
new pavilion and 12 pitches
for junior players at Kilsby
Lane. Rugby United FC were handed
a £562,800 grant to build a
floodlit artificial pitch at
their Butlin Road ground.
By
combining their resources the
two teams hope to provide increased
opportunities for footballers
of all ages and abilities. Junior
teams will be encouraged to
use the new facilities at Kilsby
Lane, which is set to become
a leading community based facility
for the town’s junior players
whilst all age groups will be
able to utilise United’s Butlin
Road site.
This
outstanding partnership is set
to lead the development of both
male and female players in the
town and will provide increased
opportunities for disabled footballers
to enjoy the benefits of sport.
Rugby
United Chairman Brian Melvin
was delighted to secure the
funding towards the project.He said, “This is great
news both for the club and for
the town, and I would like to
thank everybody for their hard
work over the past few years
to help bring this to fruition.We now look forward to
the opportunity of developing
a high quality all-weather facility
for the community at Butlin
Road.”
Brian
Crinigan Secretary of Rugby
Town paid tribute to all the
volunteers that have made this
award possible.“Volunteers are the life
of this club and without them
it just would not happen.We talk about opportunities
in life and this is a massive
opportunity for the kids of
Rugby to emulate their heroes
and to enjoy the benefits that
sport can offer and, who knows,
the next Wayne Rooney might
just be out there.”
Funded
by the FA Premier League, the Football Association and the Government,
the Football Foundation is dedicated
to revitalising the grass roots
of the game, constructing modern
football facilities, developing
football as a force for social
cohesion and as a vehicle for
education in communities throughout
the country.
Peter
Lee, Chief Executive of the
Foundation welcomed the news,
he said, “This outstanding grant
will provide some of the best
facilities in the area. The
future of grass roots football
in Rugby looks increasingly
bright.”
As
their fourth anniversary approaches
the Foundation has funded over
1,000 projects, with a further
500 under consideration worth
a total of £300m.
This means hundreds of thousands
of players of all ages, abilities
and backgrounds now have access
to some of the best facilities
the game has to offer.On top of that, over
400
community and education schemes
are now offering coaching, education
and social inclusion initiatives,
underlining football’s commitment
to put something back into the
game.In addition, over 6,200
under 16 teams have also been
provided with free kit and equipment
as part of the Foundation’s
Junior Kit Scheme.
