Football Foundation launches new Energy Support Programme

The Football Foundation has launched a new £6m package of support to help grassroots football clubs and organisations with rising energy costs.

The funding will be available across two funds, The Energy Fund and The Floodlight Fund.

In addition to this, the Foundation has designed guidance specifically for football clubs that will provide some useful tips and guidance to help reduce energy costs and become more energy-efficient.

The Energy Fund will be targeted at energy-saving measures for clubhouses. The Football Foundation will cover 75% of costs up to £25,000 per application and the recipient club or organisation asked to provide the remaining 25%.

All grassroots football clubs (excluding Step 1-6 of the National League System and Tier 1-4 of the Women’s Football Pyramid), charities and community organisations operating affiliated football on their sites are eligible to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for this Fund.

Meanwhile, the Floodlight Fund will support clubs and organisations to move from using metal halide (‘halogen’) floodlights to LED floodlights, which will help to reduce energy consumption and thereby save money.

Typical usage of LED floodlights could save clubs and organisations around £8,000 per full-size 3G football turf pitch (FTP) per year in comparison to the use of halogen alternatives.

However, the upfront costs associated with retrofitting these LEDs are often prohibitive for many organisations. The Floodlight Fund will seek to resolve this by covering up to 70% of these associated costs on Foundation-funded floodlit 3G FTPs.

The deadline for submitting expressions of interests for the funding is Thursday 13 April 2023.