FRONT LAWN RECREATION GROUND £1.5 MILLION COMMUNITY SPORTS PROJECT MADE POSSIBLE THANKS TO FUNDING FROM THE FOOTBALL FOUNDATION.

McArdle Sport Tec & TigerTurf were delighted to have been selected by the Football Foundation to manufacture and construct a 3G Artificial Football Pitch and refurbish an existing Multi Use Games Area.

Havant Borough Council secured a substantial grant of £629,407 thanks to the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, which is delivered by the Football Foundation. The funding enabled a £1.5 million community sports project at Front Lawn Recreation Ground, Havant, which included refurbishing an existing MUGA, and a brand new 106 x 70m 3G artificial football pitch, built to meet FIFA Quality standards.

The Football Foundation is the country’s largest sports charity. Since 2000, when the Foundation was launched, nearly 15,000 grants have been awarded worth nearly £580 million. The Foundation has also gained additional partnership funding of just under £800 million, which is an overall investment of £1.4 billion into the Grassroots sport.

Working in partnership with TigerTurf, McArdle Sport Tec were delighted to have been selected as the manufacturer/contractor for this Football Foundation community project. The new 3G TigerTurf Atomic Pro 60 artificial turf replaced an existing natural grass pitch which was prone to waterlogging. The artificial football pitch also benefits from new fencing and floodlights, which will enable all year round playing; the FA expects the new 3G pitch will be used an average of 50+ hours per week.

Neil Cassar, CEO of Hampshire FA, commented:

“We are one of a few county FAs with more than one operational site which is a momentous achievement in itself. At our HQ in Basingstoke we have seen cup finals hosted and large-scale events hosted for the local community. We have hosted regional finals, courses and much more.

This new facility will go that extra mile to ensuring we can accommodate even more for our members, the very people that serve our beautiful game whilst being closer, more connected with these areas and our members within them. It isn’t simply a facility providing an artificial football pitch – it is a facility for the whole community, where local people can partake in a variety of sports whilst finding out about the work that we do. It will be a community hub where we can deliver a programme of courses including safeguarding, medical, refereeing, CPD and more. Together with our partners and stakeholders, this has been achievable, and we look forward to a bright future ahead for our game in Hampshire.”

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation said:

“Congratulations should go to Havant Borough Council for working with the Hampshire FA to secure this Premier League & FA Facilities Fund Grant. My thanks go to Alan Mak MP for taking the time to visit the site.

Since 2000, the Foundation has awarded 362 grants worth £12.6m across Hampshire towards Grassroots sports projects worth nearly £28.4m with money generously provided by our funders: the Premier League, the FA and the Government via Sport England”.