The Scottish Football Partnership Trust is delighted to announce the launch of Pitching In, a new initiative designed to supercharge Scottish football at the grassroots level.
As a joint venture with the Scottish Football Association (SFA), the Trust will be working in tandem with the country’s governing body to invest in new pitches and improved changing facilities across Scotland.
Despite a surge in the popularity of the sport, particularly among women and girls, grassroots clubs are struggling to provide enough quality, inclusive footballing opportunities. Challenges include sub-standard playing surfaces and outdated changing rooms, both of which can impact the experience for players.
Over the next five years, we’ll be working to raise £50 million that will be used to install 40 new 3G pitches, upgrade 50 existing pitches and renovate 75 changing rooms across Scotland. Our aim is to make Scottish football a more inclusive, welcoming environment for players of all ages, genders and social backgrounds.
To meet this ambitious target, we’ll be working alongside a number of partners and investors who share our dream of a Scotland where everyone has equal opportunity to access community football.
Ultimately, we hope that through ‘Pitching In’, grassroots clubs will see more than 6.8 million additional visits per year. Our efforts will facilitate thousands of players taking part in hundreds of games across the country and give a much-needed shot in the arm to our community football clubs.
SFA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell said: “Pitching In is about laying foundations for the future of our national sport. It’s about making facilities up and down the country more accessible, whether that be changing facilities and community spaces, rejuvenating old, tired 3G surfaces or installing new facilities for future generations to play on.”
We can’t wait to get the ball rolling. You can learn more about Pitching In here.
