Pic: The FA
THE Football Association have opened the first of their planned Parklife hubs as part of a project to invest £200m into grass-roots football.
The first hub, SGP Sheffield Graves centre, was opened on Wednesday and will benefit the country for ‘decades' according to interim England boss Gareth Southgate.
The Parklife project will build 30 new all-purpose facilities by 2020 in a partnership between the FA, the Department for Culture Media and Sport, the Premier League and Sport England.
The programme is part of the FA's plans to address the poor facilities in grass-roots football with multi-pitch football hubs set to be built across England's urban heartland over the next five years.
On Monday, the FA announced a new overseas broadcast rights deal for the FA Cup for six seasons – reportedly worth £820m.
FA chief executive Martin Glenn says the significant sum will allow the governing body to invest more into artificial pitches with England lagging behind other European countries.
And interim boss Southgate was impressed with the new Sheffield hub, saying the facilities will help children and the community and, hopefully, the national team in the long term.
“Well I think, that every England player starts somewhere, well we started somewhere that didn't look like this!” interim boss Southgate said.
“Kyle Walker and Gary Cahill came from this part of the world, started in grass-roots football and end up senior internationals, playing at Wembley and I'm sure some of the boys here are thinking the same, that will be their aspiration.
“The more hours of practice they get the better and the days are gone where that can always happen on the street outside or in the local park. That opportunity isn't always open to kids so to be able to come to a centre like this is crucial.
“We will benefit for decades. When talking about player development, you're always thinking about short, medium and long-term strategies. It can't always be about what's right for the next 12 months.
“But the investment isn't always about producing that elite player. It's for kids and communities too. I know grass-roots clubs give kids somewhere to go where they feel safe, where they get a strong positive influence around them and there's a huge amount of social responsibility.”
