SPORT ENGLAND AND THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

That this House believes there is no justification for Sport England providing £30 million in funding to the Football Association (FA) to develop grassroots football; points out that while welcoming the cut of £1.6 million in the grant, the FA has an annual income of over £300 million and presides over the richest football organisation in the world, the Premier League; further believes that senior football clubs, and principally those in the Premier League, have failed to properly invest in grassroots football; notes that the Premier League currently gives just 3.7 per cent of its annual turnover to amateur and non-senior football, some £45 million, and contrasts that with the wage bill of just one club, Manchester City, which last year spent £233 million on salaries; is convinced that the lack of sufficient local high-standard facilities is responsible both for the drop in numbers of those playing the amateur game and is hindering the development of young talent; and calls on the FA to ensure that the Premier League is made to double its annual contribution, joined by the Government, so that more people are playing the game, particularly young people, which can only benefit the clubs and the national team.