With a title race going to the final day, emotional farewells and a record number of goals scored, it has been a Premier League season to remember for football fans.
Away from the match action, the Premier League has provided world-leading levels of investment into communities and football at all levels in England and Wales, with a £1.6billion contribution over three years, equating to 16 per cent of the League’s total revenue.
Premier League Stadium Fund upgrades football pyramid facilities
The Premier League has provided more than 5,000 grants totalling almost £200m since 2000 to improve the stadiums of over 1,000 men’s and women’s clubs across England and Wales.
During the 2023/24 season, grants totalling £10.4m have been provided to 157 clubs to upgrade their facilities – including 32 clubhouse and changing room refurbishments, 45 stands and 56 brand new sets of LED floodlights.
A total of 168 clubs across the National League system and women’s football pyramid have now received funding from the Premier League to make the switch from older floodlights to the more energy-efficient LED replacements, resulting in less carbon emissions and lower bills.
Leicester City’s Premier League title-winning captain Wes Morgan, who re-visited his former semi-professional side Dunkirk FC in his hometown of Nottingham earlier this season, explains:
"Support for the football pyramid from the Premier League is very important. It helps teams grow, improve and makes the game better.
"It's good to see how the facilities at Dunkirk have developed. There's been a lot of investment over the years and a lot of changes which are very noticeable from my time.“
Football Foundation investment into grassroots exceeds £1bn
The Football Foundation, which is funded by the Premier League, The FA and The Government, is focused on improving grassroots facilities across England. Total investment through the funding partners since the Foundation was created in 2000 has exceeded £1billion.
More than 13,000 grants have been provided to improve grass pitches and over a thousand new 3G pitches created across the country.
More than 70,000 FA affiliated teams have played matches this season at facilities funded by the Football Foundation
In 2023/24, the Football Foundation contributed £85m to projects worth a total of £160m which will improve lives and access to football facilities, with new locations opened from Chichester to Cheshire.
The 19-pitch Bobby Moore Hub, named after the legendary World Cup-winning England captain was officially opened in his home borough of Barking at Parsloes Park in February 2024, thanks to the Football Foundation’s highest single grant of £6.2m. The Chloe Kelly Pitch was also unveiled at the Hub to honour the London Lionesses UEFA Women's Euro 2022 winning success.
West Ham United Women star Hawa Sissoko and former Hammers duo Bobby Zamora and Anton Ferdinand were on hand to open the facility, with Zamora commenting:
“I know how much this will mean to the local community. People are football-mad in this part of London and these quality floodlit pitches mean football can be played all year round, whatever the weather.”
Also this season, new small-sided multi-sport pitches have been opened in Derby and West Bromwich, the first of 200 Football Foundation PlayZones planned to provide free sport access in the heart of communities, backed by £13.5m from the Premier League.
