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• The government, the FA and the Premier League鈥檚 Football Foundation has opened the first of 23 sites to honour winning Lionesses of EURO 2022
• Naming comes as part of government commitment to improve access to sport for women and girls, and build on the Lionesses鈥� inspirational legacy
• UK-wide 拢300 million capital investment in grassroots facilities will support talent of the future and represents biggest ever commitment to delivering equal access for women and girls playing football

The pitches, being built in or around the hometowns of the winning players are funded by the government, the FA and the Premier League鈥檚 Football Foundation. It will inspire the next generation of female stars with top class facilities.

The 鈥楯ill Scott Pitch鈥� was unveiled in a ceremony at the Perth Green Community Centre in Jarrow alongside coaches and members of the local community who will benefit from the 3G pitch. The new floodlit facility is just five miles from Jill鈥檚 hometown of Sunderland and will support the growth of female, disability and recreational football in the local area.

Following their victory 鈥� the first English football team to win a major trophy since 1966 鈥� the government, Premier League and the Football Association鈥檚 Football Foundation committed to naming grassroots facilities in honour of the squad. The site namings form part of national efforts to raise the profile of women鈥檚 football at the elite level and increase access and participation for women and girls at the grassroots level.

This site is one of many across the UK to have benefited from the government鈥檚 UK-wide 拢300 million four-year capital investment into grassroots multi-sports facilities.

The Football Foundation is delivering outstanding grassroots facilities, more and better places to play, and transforming lives and communities where it is needed most.

Fifty per cent of the investment is going directly to the most deprived areas across the UK and the benefits will be felt beyond football: by 2025, 40 per cent of Football Foundation investment will go to projects which host at least one additional sport such as rugby, cricket, netball and basketball.

Jill Scott, MBE said:

鈥淚t鈥檚 an absolute honour to have a site that will be used by so many people in the local community named after me in the place I used to play!

鈥淲inning the Women鈥檚 EUROS was incredibly special and I hope, thanks to this recognition and funding from The Premier League, The FA and government鈥檚 Football Foundation, this pitch will benefit Lionesses of the future.鈥�

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

鈥淚鈥檓 delighted we are honouring Jill and the entire 23 woman squad as part of our 拢300 million investment in grassroots multi-sport pitches.

鈥淭he Lionesses thrilled the nation with their historic Euros victory, delivering the nation鈥檚 first major tournament win in more than 50 years.

鈥淭hey have inspired a generation of women and girls to believe they too can achieve their dreams.鈥�

The FA鈥檚 Director of Women鈥檚 Football, Sue Campbell, said:

鈥淭he England women鈥檚 team changed the landscape for the women鈥檚 and girls鈥� game when they lifted the UEFA Women鈥檚 EURO 2022 trophy last year. The success of the team wasn鈥檛 just about lifting the trophy, it was also about changing the path for women and girls who want to or currently play football up and down the country.

鈥淏y 2024 The FA want to see 5,000 good-quality pitches added to the current number. With the Football Foundation, we are prioritising the areas and communities where these new pitches are most needed. This project allows us to provide more opportunities for people to play football across the region. Jill Scott has had an incredible career and no doubt inspired many people in her hometown to take up the game, so I鈥檓 sure the 鈥楯ill Scott pitch鈥� will be extremely popular.鈥�

Premier League Head of Community Nick Perchard said:

鈥淭he Premier League is committed to developing the game at all levels and we are聽investing more than ever before into women鈥檚 and girls鈥� football, from the WSL to grassroots.

鈥淭his includes work in partnership with The FA to develop pathways for young players, improving facilities and developing greater workforce pathways for women and girls.

鈥淲e are delighted to see our funding going towards new pitches honouring the Lionesses, bringing together state-of-the-art facilities with inspirational role models to get more girls playing the game.鈥�

Robert Sullivan, CEO of The Football Foundation said:

鈥淲e are committed to improving the experience of playing football for everyone and thanks to investment from The Premier League, The FA and government, the Football Foundation is directing more funding into projects all of which will offer equal access to play for women and girls.

鈥淎t the end of the last academic year there were over 100,000 more girls playing football and since the Lionesses鈥� glory last summer we are seeing even more girls are lacing up their boots.

鈥淥ver 8,500 female football teams are playing at sites that have received funding from the Football Foundation, whether that be for new goalposts, improved grass pitches or brand-new changing pavilions and 3G pitches. But we know there is more to do if we鈥檙e going to meet this rising demand, which is why we are here today with Jill to make that commitment 鈥� and inspire all those who saw their win to get down to their local pitch.鈥�

To ensure women and girls can benefit from these facilities, and help create a lasting聽 legacy, all sites in the multisport grassroots programme must provide access based on the needs of the local women鈥檚 and girls鈥� teams. The move is also designed to support the Football Association鈥檚 ambition for the UEFA Women鈥檚 EURO 2022 to create 500,000 extra opportunities for women and girls to play football.

The government鈥檚 grassroots multi-sport pitches programme has successfully delivered more than 拢43 million of funding across the UK last year, with an additional 拢168 million to be invested into facilities in England between 2022 and 2025 - on top of an existing and continuing 拢18m annual commitment.

The government is a major supporter of women鈥檚 football and is working to improve access and build on its commercial success for the long term. It is working alongside The FA to achieve the ambition of equal access to football for girls in 90 per cent of schools by 2024. The Department for Education鈥檚 拢320 million PE and School Sports Premium School Sport and Activity Action Plan will help more girls to take part in sport and physical activity.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Read about the latest round of funding splits for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as part of the government鈥檚 additional [拢230 million grassroots funding[(/government/news/uk-wide-funding-confirmed-to-2025-for-the-multi-sport-grassroots-facilities-programme).
• Details on how to get facilities investment in your area for 2023/2024 can be found at for England, the for Scotland, the for Wales, and for Northern Ireland.
• The recent UEFA Women鈥檚 Euro 2022 tournament provided over 416,000 new opportunities for girls and women to play and be involved in football, including increasing the number of playing, coaching, officiating and volunteering opportunities across host cities.
• The government is also continuing to take steps to ensure that, as a nation, we continue to nurture the talent of the future and capitalise on the unprecedented commercial success of women鈥檚 football in recent years. The current Review of the Future of Women鈥檚 Football, chaired by Karen Carney will look at how to deliver bold and sustainable growth of the women鈥檚 game at elite and grassroots level.
• Find out more about the details of the Women鈥檚 Review of Football.