Former FA Cup Final and Premier League referee Chris Foy helped unveil a new FA-funded £450,000 changing room pavilion in Cheshire this week.
Foy joined Cllr Rachel Bailey of Cheshire East Council and Cheshire FA’s chief operating officer Alex Bedford at the King George V Playing Fields, where a £137,424 grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund saw their 50-year-old changing facility refurbished.
The new pavilion now consists of eight players’ changing rooms, an officials’ changing room, storage equipment and spectator toilets.
Cheshire East Council Leader Rachel Bailey at the new facility, part-funded by The FA
Cheshire East Council also worked in partnership with the Football Foundation and Cheshire FA to develop a five-year Football Development Plan (FDP) – a vision for football delivery at the facility – in which the site is set to become a central venue for the County FA’s Charter Standard Youth Leagues, projecting on-site participation to increase by 106 per cent.
"I was delighted to attend the opening of Cheshire East Council’s new changing pavilion," said Foy, who is now head of community and public engagement at the Professional Game Match Officials Limited.
"The facility will provide the local community with a quality changing room, enabling grassroots players and referees to enjoy playing football purely for the love of doing so.
"Having refereed across all levels of the game, I understand the real value of facilities like this one in Cheshire because they support the broader infrastructure of grassroots sport. The changing room will really help to open up future opportunities to get players and referees involved in the sport.
"I would like to thank the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, whose continued investment into grassroots football ensures projects like these are able to make a real impact at the lowest levels of the game."
Cllr Bailey, Leader of Cheshire East Council, added: "The improvements to the facilities at the King George Playing Fields are a fabulous addition to sporting assets in Crewe.
"I am sure they will be welcomed by all the teams who use them and will help to boost participation in sport locally. The refurbishment has transformed the pavilion and given it a new lease of life."
And Bedford revealed: "The development will have such a positive impact on the local community – the site is going to be used by a wide range of local grassroots clubs, as well as becoming Cheshire FA’s central venue for the Charter Standard Youth Leagues.
"It is so important that money continues to filter down into the grassroots level, and without the grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, through the Football Foundation, developments like this one would not be possible."
The Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund is funded by the Premier League, The FA, and the Government, via Sport England and delivered by the Football Foundation, the country’s largest sports charity.
Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 14,000 grants worth more than £560m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £787m – over £1.3bn of investment into the grassroots game.
