Save Grassroots Football campaign protests over a lack of investment in grassroots footballFootballers across the country refused to play last Sunday in protest at the rising costs facing amateur teams and the lack of investment in grassroots football from the professional game.
The focus of the protest was on Merseyside at the home of Woolton FC, where around 300 people braved the winter weather to support the Save Grassroots Football campaign, which calls on the Premier League to invest 7.5% of its broadcasting rights into the grassroots game.
The Premier League’s current broadcasting deal is worth £5.5bn from 2013-2016, but only £12m a year will be directly invested into grassroots football, via the Premier League and FA Facilities Fund – a £102m three-year grassroots investment administered by the Football Foundation.
At the same time, many grassroots teams across the country have seen their running costs soar as local councils hike up pitch hire costs following swinging public sector cuts.
Kenny Saunders felt that something had to be done, so he created the Save Grassoots Football campaign to call on the government to debate the issue, by calling for 100,000 signatures to anonline petition and arranging protests like that on Sunday at venues from Merseyside to Hackney Marshes.
Read More here: http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/news/2014/01/31/grassroots-teams-stage-boycott-over-rising-costs/
