Leah Williamson Celebrates Lionesses Futures Fund Pitch Investment

Arsenal defender and Lionesses captain Leah Williamson returned to her hometown to celebrate The Leah Williamson Pitch at Newport Pagnell Town FC, one of the first half of sites to receive Lionesses Futures Fund grants.

The £30m cash injection from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation was announced last year to recognise the trailblazing success of the Lionesses.

The grants will help to provide women and girls across the country with gold standard facilities and experiences, with priority access for women and girls through reserved peak-time slots and welcoming changing rooms.

Since the Lionesses lifted the EURO trophy in 2022, 68,000 more girls are playing football compared to before the tournament. However, too often, badly lit pitches, unsuitable changing facilities and late-night kick-off times put women and girls off taking to the pitch.

To celebrate the Lionesses victory at the 2022 UEFA EUROs and their achievement of making the final at FIFA World Cup 2023, £25m from the Government and £5m from The FA was committed to supporting the improvement of at least 30 facilities across the country.

The Leah Williamson Pitch is just one of 15 sites across the country from Oldham to the New Forest and Suffolk to Somerset who have been awarded a Lionesses Futures Fund grant.

Sharing her enthusiasm for the project, Leah Williamson said: “It is such an honour to be here to see one of the first Lionesses Futures Fund pitches come to life.

“This pitch will provide the very best playing experience for local women and girls, ensuring they can play at decent times and on a state-of-the-art pitch. 

“To meet some of the players who will get the opportunity to lace up their boots to play on this great pitch has been magic! I feel so proud to be a Lioness and proud of the whole team for inspiring women and girls to play football.”

Robert Sullivan, CEO of the Football Foundation, said: “It’s a real pleasure to be here to unveil one of the first 3G pitches that a Lionesses Futures Fund Grant has made possible.

“For the pitch to be named after local footballing legend Leah Williamson in recognition of the Lionesses recent successes will be incredibly inspiring for the players here at Newport Pagnell Town.

“This Fund builds on the Football Foundation’s biggest ever commitment to providing equal access to grassroots facilities for women and girls.

“Over 8,500 women’s and girls’ football teams were playing at sites that have benefitted from Football Foundation funding last season, whether that be for new goalposts, improved grass pitches or brand-new changing pavilions and 3G pitches.

“Thanks to the funding from the Premier League, The FA and Government, we’re delivering 30 pitches like this across the country to support the growing demand for football we’ve seen following the Lionesses’ inspirational success.”

Image: Football Foundation