The project was made possible thanks to a combined grant from The FA and the Premier League Facilities Fund – delivered by The Football Foundation - which was then matched and topped up by The Priory Federation of Academies Trust to make up the £550,000 cost of the pitch.
The pitch has been a priority project for the Lincolnshire FA and will support two local partner clubs, Birchwood Colts JFC, an FA Charter Standard Community Club, and Greenbank JFC, an FA Charter Standard Club.
Rob King, Lincolnshire FA county development manager, said: “The project has been a priority for the Lincolnshire FA Facilities and investment group.
"Through the hard work of all the partners involved we have been able to deliver a high quality facility to support the development of football in the City.”
Rob King of the Lincolnshire FA with representatives from Birchwood Juniors and Greenbank
When complete, the facility will be suitable for use in all-weather conditions and marked out for both 11-a-side and five-a-side matches.
The pitch – expected to completed in summer of 2014 – will be used by pupils at the Academy and Federation during the school day, and will be available to hire for players and teams from across the city during evenings, weekends and school holidays.
Commenting on the development, Jane Hopkinson, head teacher at the Academy said: “We are extremely grateful to the Trust and to the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund for making this development possible.
“It is fantastic to see such progress being made and we can’t wait for the pitch to be open and in use – it will dramatically improve access to grassroots sport for our students and for thousands of people in the city.”
Many of the new state-of-the-art facilities will serve to strengthen the connection between professional football clubs and their local communities.
The pitch will be ready for use in the summer
By providing high-quality facilities - coupled with coaching at the appropriate age group - the project continues the work of the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund by helping to improve and increase the talent pool across the country by maximising opportunity and access to facilities.
The new facilities will also 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.
Since it was launched in 2000, the Football Foundation has supported more than 12,000 grassroots projects worth over £1 billion.
Meanwhile, in the same period of time the Football Foundation funding partners’ investment has provided 110 grants - worth over £10m - towards grassroots sports projects totaling £26m across Lincolnshire.
