THE GRASSROOTS ISN'T GREENER
brighton rebel
Printed in the Southern League Central Division game v Dunstable on Saturday 22nd February 2014. We won 4-0 in front of 262 people.
You would think that our football mad nation with
apparently the best league ever, that grassroots football facilities
would be the envy of the world. Where muddy
fields, dog poo and
dilapidated changing rooms would be a thing of the past. But we all
know that's not the case and that the football world perfectly
mirrors our
unequal society.
Last year the Premier League
income was a staggering 2.4 billion – of which they gave a paltry
£12 million to the Football Foundation, or 0.5% of their riches. Having
initially bowed to government pressure to give 5%, the league now
insists that commitment was for one broadcasting rights deal only
and, despite securing a
record £5.5bn for 2013-16, has cut its
funding to the Football Foundation.
So one MP launched a
petition to ask for 7.5% of the Premierships income be given to
grassroots campaign rather than wasting more TV money on increasing
players wages. But less than a week to go it has astonishingly
only got just over 30, 000 signatures. It would have attracted more
with the backing of the 50
county FAs but not one replied when
contacted about the campaign.
This week the government
launched 'Moving More, Living More' initiative to build on the
Olympic legacy, but as sports journalist David Conn told me "it
should
have been issued in 1997 and incredibly the document
suggests they are just thinking how to increase activity. It's too
little, too late. "
Despite all fine government words
about getting more people involved in sport, 100,000 people have
walked away from grassroots football since April 2012 and it
is
now behind swimming, athletics and cycling in the participation
rates. Mick Baikie, national clubs services manager at the Football
Association complained "one of the biggest challenges we face is facilities. We've got qualified coaches but we haven't got
the facilities for them to coach and play. The big problem now is the
public sector cuts – 80% of games are played on local authority
sites that have been heavily subsidised in the past but we are
starting to see an impact with the
cuts. One council recently
raised their fees from £400 per pitch, per season to £1,600. That's
happening all over the country."
Lord Harris, Chairman of
the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Committee has expressed his
disappointment at the lack of movement by Government. "Our
report
endorsed the consensus that the 2012 Games were an
outstanding success. The Government’s response certainly talks the
right talk, particularly on sport in
school age children, but at
a time when the UK faces an obesity epidemic, costing £20 billion a
year, encouraging more physically active lives is of critical
importance, and I think more investment than the Government are
planning will be essential in the long term."
As one
football coach pointed out "We don't look at the bigger picture
in this country. If kids can play football regularly that will help
in some way towards the
obesity crisis and the strain that puts
on the NHS. And it's not just about the football but about making
friends, instilling discipline and helping the community."
While
Cameron tells us 'money is no object' when it comes to the floods,
wouldn't it make sense to tell the Premiership that not properly
investing in our national game just isn't an option anymore.