Atherstone Sports Club secures new 3G pitch and upgraded facilities, supporting year-round football, rugby, and inclusive community sports for all ages and abilities.
People living in North Warwickshire are set to benefit from fresh investment into local grassroots sports facilities thanks to a £1.3m grant from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation and a further £327,000 from North Warwickshire Borough Council.
This investment will enable Atherstone Sports Club to provide a 3G football pitch, which will also be suitable for a range of rugby activities, including senior training, junior matches and training, touch rugby and walking rugby, and renovations to the changing rooms at its Ratcliffe Road site.
The Club has been working in partnership with North Warwickshire Borough Council over several years to deliver the new facility, which will be only the second publicly available 3G pitch in the Borough.
3G pitches are an integral part of modern football facilities. The high quality, consistent playing surface is the ideal environment to play football and other sports. 3G pitches can be heavily used all year round with no decline in quality. They almost completely negate fixture cancellations during winter months, helping football and other sports to be a key part of a regular physical activity habit
A full size 3G pitch caters for an average of 1,200 participants per week and is fully inclusive to all sections of the community, with a particular focus on women and girls, low socio-economic groups, people with disabilities and culturally diverse communities.
The new 3G pitch will provide better facilities for existing teams and create opportunities for wider sections of the community.
Councillor Margaret Bell, Chair of the Community and Environment Board, said:
“This is fantastic news for the Club and the Borough. These brand-new facilities will provide an asset for the Borough for decades to come. The improvement to the changing facilities will provide much needed updated facilities meeting the needs of all ages and genders accessing sport at Atherstone Sports Club. It will be great to see new people attracted to the site to get active throughout the year. The Council is please to contribute funding to match that being made available from the Football Foundation to make this project possible”
Sarah Carmody, Secretary of the Atherstone Sports Club said:
“This has been a team effort with members from all sections of Atherstone Sports Club, including cricket, hockey, junior football and rugby, pooling their skills and knowledge to bring this long-term vision to fruition. We are grateful for the support provided by North Warwickshire Borough Council, Birmingham County FA and Football Foundation. This has been a long journey, and we cannot wait to see all the hard work come to fruition.”
Steve Matthews, Chair of Atherstone Rangers Junior Football Club said:
“Our club was founded in 1974 and since then we have continued to thrive and grow. Some of our coaches and Committee members started their football journey as young players at the Club. We have continually worked to improve access to pitches and to improve quality to reduce the number of games lost due to issues with the grass pitches. The funding from Football Foundation and the Borough for the AGP pitch will take our club to another level helping us to enable more young people to take part in football, enhancing their physical and mental health.”
Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, Robert Sullivan, said:
“The Football Foundation is working closely with our partners – the Premier League, The FA and Government – to transform the quality of grassroots facilities in England by delivering projects like this across the country. Good quality playing facilities have a transformative impact on physical and mental health and play an important role in bringing people together and strengthening local communities. This grant award to Atherstone Sports Club and North Warwickshire Borough Council towards developing the new 3G pitch and improved facilities is fantastic news for the local community and will help give more people access to a great place to play.”