As part of the ongoing review of the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF), we recently carried out a survey of all the Clubs that play at Step 1 to 6 and Tier 1 to 4 of the National League System (NLS) and Women's Football Pyramid (WFP).
One of the key findings of the initial survey was that Clubs suggested that the creation a centralised digital database of all of the stadiums in the NLS and WFP would be a welcome addition, and therefore we are now looking at beginning to learn much more about the grounds used across the pyramids.
The FSIF will therefore this summer begin to collate information so that we can develop and evolve a database of the facilities that can be used for the benefit of your Club, your league, The FA and the FSIF – and help us to target our funding where it is needed the most to support clubs.
It will help to shape the FSIF criteria going forward and prioritise the most pressing areas of the non-league game whilst at the same time informing The FA's Ground Grading criteria as we look to assist clubs in developing their facilities to improve the overall financial sustainability of the clubs at this level of the game.
The submission of this information will be a mandatory requirement ahead of any future FSIF application so, in order to maintain eligibility for FSIF funding and any other funding opportunities that we make during the 2021/22 season, we would urge Clubs to complete the survey as soon as possible.
The deadline for completing the survey has been slightly extended until Monday 9 August 2021 to give clubs another weekend to complete it.
Links to the survey have been sent directly to Club Secretaries at Step 1 to 6 and Tier 1 and 2 via email. If Clubs have any queries or cannot access the survey, they should email enquiries@footballfoundation.org.uk in the first instance.
Please note that the survey for Clubs that play in the Women's Football Pyramid at Tier 3 and 4 will be released to those Clubs in August.
