Lionesses Futures Fund
Newport Pagnell Town receive grant and names new pitch after local hero, Leah Williamson
Arsenal defender and Lionesses captain Leah Williamson returned to her hometown of Newport Pagnell, to celebrate the opening of The Leah Williamson Pitch at the football club, as part of one of the Lionesses Futures Funded Football Foundation sites.
Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation announced last year that an additional £30m was to be invested in to 3G pitches to help provide women and girls across the country with gold standard facilities and experiences, with priority access for women and girls through reserved peak-time slots and welcoming changing rooms, following the Lionesses huge success of winning the EUROs.
Since the tournament in 2022, 68,000 more girls are playing football compared to before the tournament. However, too often, badly lit pitches, unsuitable changing facilities and late-night kick-off times put women and girls off taking to the pitch. To celebrate the Lionesses roaring to victory at the 2022 UEFA EUROs and their achievement of making the final at FIFA World Cup 2023, £25m from the Government and £5m from The FA was committed to supporting the improvement of at least 30 facilities across the country.
The Leah Williamson Pitch is one of 14 sites across the country from Oldham to the New Forest and Suffolk to Somerset who have been awarded a Lionesses Futures Fund grant. By January 2025 further sites will be in place to provide every women and girl the facilities they need and deserve.
The naming of the pitch was a huge celebratory event, organised and hosted excellently by the volunteers of the club. The local community was out in force and lots of women’s and girls football was on display to evidence the huge growth in numbers that the club has developed over the last few years.
Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation announced last year that an additional £30m was to be invested in to 3G pitches to help provide women and girls across the country with gold standard facilities and experiences, with priority access for women and girls through reserved peak-time slots and welcoming changing rooms, following the Lionesses huge success of winning the EUROs.
Since the tournament in 2022, 68,000 more girls are playing football compared to before the tournament. However, too often, badly lit pitches, unsuitable changing facilities and late-night kick-off times put women and girls off taking to the pitch. To celebrate the Lionesses roaring to victory at the 2022 UEFA EUROs and their achievement of making the final at FIFA World Cup 2023, £25m from the Government and £5m from The FA was committed to supporting the improvement of at least 30 facilities across the country.
The Leah Williamson Pitch is one of 14 sites across the country from Oldham to the New Forest and Suffolk to Somerset who have been awarded a Lionesses Futures Fund grant. By January 2025 further sites will be in place to provide every women and girl the facilities they need and deserve.
The naming of the pitch was a huge celebratory event, organised and hosted excellently by the volunteers of the club. The local community was out in force and lots of women’s and girls football was on display to evidence the huge growth in numbers that the club has developed over the last few years.
Find out more about the Lionesses Futures Fund here.
