A near £100,000 grant from the Premier League & FA Facilities Fund helped open a new 3G artificial grass pitch at the Prescot Soccer and Leisure Centre on Merseyside.
The pitch, opened by Volair Ltd, will be used by a number of local grassroots football clubs and Liverpool County FA, who run initiatives such as Just Play and Mash Up, offering recreational football playing opportunities and pathways for young people to access local teams.
Over the last three years, due to adverse weather conditions, many games across Knowsley had been postponed – the last winter period saw 10 weeks of football lost due to the weather.
But thanks to the all-weather nature of the new surface, this will be a thing of the past.
Everton Football in the Community and Liverpool Football Club Foundation will also use the site for holiday programmes and other initiatives such as Primary School Fun Festivals and Fun Football night sessions.
The £309,996 facility was opened last week with a grant of £190,000 received from Sport England’s Improvement Fund and a further £20,000 invested by Volair Ltd, an owned and controlled subsidiary of Knowsley Council, who will manage all of Knowsley’s Leisure Centres including Prescot Soccer Centre and Community Use of the Centres for Learning on behalf of Knowsley Borough Council.
"The new pitch is a fantastic addition to the Soccer Centre and provides the perfect platform to improve the experience for all players and will provide a real boost to sport in the local area," said Kevin Schofield the Managing Director of Volair.
"The centre already provides a diverse and varied programme of football activities attracting players of all ages and abilities. Along with the gym facilities and players’ lounge, the centre will provide a real hub for sport in Knowsley. All of this would have not been possible without the funding and support from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund."
Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, added: "I am delighted that a grant from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund has enabled Volair Ltd to upgrade The Prescot Soccer and Leisure Centre. This development will provide a real boost to sport in the local area.
"Since 2000, the Football Foundation has supported grassroots projects worth more than £1.3bn, investing into areas where the need is greatest and where it will have the biggest impact in terms of getting more people playing football and a wide range of other sports."
Volair Ltd and Knowsley Metropolitan Council worked in partnership with Liverpool FA and the Football Foundation to put together a five-year Football Development Plan, which is a vision for how football will be played on site with an emphasis on increasing participation.
Disability provision on site is set to increase, with Liverpool County FA’s Disability Officer offering weekly coaching on the pitch. A weekly Girls Development Centre is planned for U7-U11s, and an Us-Girls programme for U17-U19s will support progression into ladies’ sides.
A number of local grassroots teams will be using the centre as their home ground next season including Prescot Cables FC and Knowsley Youth, whose reserve and youth teams will play their home games at the new facility. All of the primary schools in Knowsley are also invited to take part in the annual Knowsley Schools Football Tournaments.
