A record £260million injection into football by the FA is still not enough for staunch grassroots supporter and Bolton North East MP David Crausby.
Crausby wants a new settlement to secure the future of grassroots football following the announcement of extra investment from the FA – to be spread over the next four years, amounting to a £15m per year increase.
News of increased funding is always welcome but comes with a considerable catch,given the impending redundancies at the Football Association
— SaveGrassRootsFooty (@savegrassroots) August 13, 2015
Crausby, who founded the Save Grassroots Football campaign, is unhappy with how much money goes to the game’s elite.
“The fact remains that the money in British Football is concentrated in the Premier League, while our children can’t find a decent place to play,” the 69-year-old Labour MP said in a statement.
“The Government, the FA and the Premier League need to sit down and discuss the future of the game and come up with a new settlement to fund football for the next generation.
“Local Councils continue to be drained of their resources, inevitably leading to reduced support for sports facilities and activities across the country.
“Teams and leagues are closing and some families are being priced out of the game. A small increase in funds from the FA will not fix this problem.”
Crausby, who has represented Bolton North East since 1997, re-launched an e-petition in July 2014 having originally started it in 2013 and secured under 30,000 of the 100,000 signatures needed by March to be considered for a House of Commons debate on the future of children’s football and its funding.
“I will always welcome extra funding for grassroots football, but what we need to see now is a major change to put the future of the sport back on a solid foundation,” added Crausby.
Main image courtesy of David Crausby via YouTube, with thanks.
