Bedfont Sports Go 3G

Grassroots sport in Bedfont is set to benefit from a major cash injection following the news that Bedfont Sports Club have been awarded a grant of £280,768 from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund.

Funded by the Premier League, The FA, and the Government, via Sport England, the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund is delivered by the Football Foundation, the country’s largest sports charity. Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has supported more than 14,000 grassroots projects worth over £1.3 billion.

The grant will enable the club to convert their existing real grass pitch to a new £533,268 floodlit third generation (3G) artificial grass pitch (AGP). Partner clubs, like Bedfont Eagles FC, Bedfont Sunday FC and West Middlesex Sunday Football League, will benefit from the development with these sides able to use the pitch for training sessions and coaching.

Bedfont Sports Club worked alongside the Football Foundation and Middlesex FA to compile a five-year Football Development Plan, which is a vision for how football will be played on site as a result of this funding.

The plan indicates a growth in teams from 25 to a minimum of 45 sides. With help from a female qualified head coach, three new female teams should come to fruition and over the course of the five years, the club should see at least one additional team at Under-14, Under-15, Under-16 and Under-18 age groups.

The Chelsea FC Foundation also aim to support the club and their newly qualified coaches by providing mentoring support for club coaches through their community programme.

By providing more high-quality facilities, coupled with coaching at the appropriate age group, the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund aims to improve the experience for regular players as well as attracting new players to the game. Many of the new state-of-the-art facilities will serve to strengthen the connection between professional football clubs and their local communities, particularly in the most deprived areas of the country, through the professional clubs’ community trusts’ outreach work.

Terry Reader, Club Secretary of Bedfont Sports Club, said: “This is fantastic news for our club and our local community. Bedfont Sports Club is a real community hub and this grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund will help the club reach out to even more children looking to get involved in grass roots football as well as giving our existing members one of the best grass roots facilities in county.”