After the high of the Lioness’ Euro win last month, Google searches for ‘women’s football’ went up 150% on the same time last year. With young girls and women everywhere being inspired to take up football, it is the beginning of a new era for women’s sport.
Even prior to the historical and triumphant win, The Premier League announced increased financial support for the FA Women’s National League clubs. This is to both help the development of the game and improve the facilities the clubs play at.
This funding incudes a tidy £4.5 million. £3 million of this is going towards a new strategy for The FA Women’s National League, which will support game development and tiers 3 and 4. The additional £1.5 million is being made available for clubs for stadium improvements, enhancing the playing and spectating experience.
On top of this, The Premier League announced they would be giving £1.75 million per year for the next three years to the new network of Girls’ Emerging Talent Centres by the FA. These are helping to grow women’s football in England.
There are also ways to get grants for your local club, your team and even yourself if you are on track to become a professional footballer. Perhaps you know someone who is a star player in their local team or is dreaming of becoming a Lioness. Here are some of the women’s football grants available to help you.
The National Lottery Community Fund
Previously, The National Lottery Community Fund provided £2,463 to set up a new girl’s football league for under 14s to the Dorset School’s Football Association. They also gave a whopping £10,000 to Azad Hill FC for a new under 13s football league. This money allowed six new teams of 7-to-12-year olds to be formed.
The National Lottery offers funding of £300 to £10,000 to support the local community. For longer term, larger projects, they can offer grants of over £10,000. Grants above £10,000 tend to be offered to organisations rather than individuals, however, and projects which serve people across the entirety of the UK.
You can find out more about the grants The National Lottery offer and more about the application process here.
The Amateur FA
The Amateur FA offers access to funding, grants and sponsorships across the UK. Although they are not a funding body themselves, they work with the Football Foundation to identify suitable funders and sponsors. They want to help smaller teams reach their goals (pun intended!).
They also help teams raise money by other means, including community fundraising, corporate gifts, individual donors and on digital fundraising platforms online. There is lots of help and guidance about applying for grants and sponsorships, as well as some useful information about funding bodies.
You can find everything you need here.
The Football Foundation
The Football Foundation give millions of pounds every year to local and community football clubs to help improve their facilities. From improving pitches and building changing rooms to giving grants for smaller improvements and grass pitch care, the Football Foundation makes it easy and straight forward to apply.
They offer grants of up to £25,000 depending on the size of your project. You can click here to choose the type of funding you want for your team. They give you all the information you will need to collect before starting your application, so you know what you will need to include in your application.
The Premier League
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, The Premier League are working hard to ensure football teams of women and girls are getting the funding they so rightly deserve. They aid teams in tiers 1 to 4 of the Women’s Football Pyramid.
The funding and grants you can receive depend on your club’s place within the football pyramid, as well as any investments received from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund in the last five years. Clubs in Tier 1 can apply for grants of up to £75,000, whilst clubs at Tier 2 can apply for up to £400,000. Clubs in Tiers 3 and 4 can apply for up to £100,000 in funding.
You can read all the information you need and pre-application advice here. You can apply on the same page.
Sussex County Football Association
If you live in the county of Sussex, you could be eligible for plenty of grants in your area. Whether you are in Brighton and Hove, Adur and Worthing, Chichester, Horsham or Hastings, you may be eligible for some money for your team. The Sussex County Football Association work in tandem with many organisations such as Sport England and The FA to provide funding for football clubs, county teams and leagues as well as those who provide the facilities.
You can find out more and apply here.
The Scottish Football Partnership Trust
This award provides funding to grassroots football clubs to support them with their ambitions for the team. Applications can be made and any time and help with all football related projects across Scotland. To apply, simply fill out the form here.
Sport Relief
Comic Relief takes place once a year, but the foundation works hard all year long. They fund Sport Relief, which funds community sporting projects nationwide. Although their funding applications are currently closed, it is good to keep your eye on the page for when applications open. They could open at any time, and you will need to get in fast!
People’s Postcode Trust
The People’s Postcode Trust, funded by the People’s Postcode Lottery focuses on charities and good causes in Scotland. As with Comic Relief, their funding applications are closed. They re-open in just a few short weeks however, so make a note of September 1st! When applications do open, you can apply here.
The Co-op Local Community Fund
Applications are closed until Spring 2023, but don’t let that put you off applying in the future. This fund supports a huge range of wonderful projects across the UK which help to benefit local communities, including sporting teams and clubs. There is a really handy guide about how to promote your cause and get the most out of your application, which you can read here.
Save the applications page to your favourites folder or bookmarks tab and check back at the beginning of next year to apply.
Sport England
Sport England aim to address inequalities within sport by funding community and local projects. There are currently many open funds, including a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Fund and an Active Together fund, which focuses on helping sport teams and leagues particularly impacted by Covid-19.
Find out more here.
Local Funds
Check with your local council, charities and local football associations to see if they offer any funding. It is also a good idea to find out where your local community foundations are based and the support they can offer you.
Community foundations provide charitable giving, working with individuals, families, companies and groups to target grants at particular issues, areas in need and community activities (such as football teams). They can also offer training and other resources to help you. Find your local community foundation here.
