Scotland needs better football pitches – and the right facilities to complement them.
A consultation with sportscotland highlighted this common issue around the country – which inspired the Scottish FA’s Pitching In campaign, alongside the Scottish Football Partnership Trust.
It is our strategic priority to tackle the nationwide deficit in adequate surfaces and surroundings, to unleash the power of football and ensure it can continue to inspire Scotland and transform lives, for all ages and abilities.
Our goal is to raise £50 million by 2030 to invest in Scottish football’s main infrastructure – pitches and changing facilities.
We will bring together association profits and government funding, along with philanthropic donations and sponsor and partner investment to deliver three key pillars:
The Equaliser
Upgrade or replace 75 changing rooms to make them more accessible for girls, women and para footballers.
The Comeback
Upgrade up to 50 existing 3G pitches in the areas of greatest need.
The New Signing
Increase the football footprint by up to 40 new 3G pitches.
On the back of that? Some 6.8 million visits – enabling hundreds of games, thousands of goals, millions of smiles and limitless fun.
Our aim is to ensure as many people as possible can play the game we all love.
Most ‘hired’ facilities are still owned by local authorities or Leisure Trusts. While we will work with those across the public estate, our focus is on growing the provision of facilities across our grassroots community football club network, along with our member clubs.
Anyone – whether they’re a grassroot or member club – can apply for funding to support the development of their facilities through development and upgrading of existing facilities and pitches – or the installation of a new pitch.
To get the ball rolling, the Scottish FA made an initial donation of £5 million.
That kick-off amount has already been put to good use, and we will soon share some of the early success stories – highlighting the helping hand we’ve been able to give to some grassroots stalwarts and taking a few familiar faces back to their roots.
Our first stop is to Symington Tinto AFC in North Lanarkshire – the heartbeat of a small community who punches well above its weight in terms of football footfall.
We’ll hear from their longstanding driving force, Gus MacKay, who now looks after more than 300 players every week after starting off with 30.
Thanks to Pitching In, they have a perfect new pitch and a revamped clubhouse on the way.
Gus said: “Football’s in my blood and this village is in my blood. The funding we’ve had from the Scottish FA has been an absolute gamechanger.”
And we’re just getting started.
If this campaign strikes a chord with you, and you want to talk to us about investing to improve facilities in every corner of the country, visit pitchingin.scottishfa.co.uk or email pitching-in@scottishfa.co.uk.