Lambs Celebrating Major Grant Award Success

Mon 5 Jul 2021 - 10:52AM

Tamworth Football Club have received Premier League funding towards a new clubhouse roof at their Lamb. The grant has been awarded through the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF), which is the largest funder of non-league football in the country.

The £62,283 FSIF grant, which is 51 per cent of the costs of the project, will enable the Lambs to completely repair and refurbish the roof of their clubhouse which has been plagued with leaks over a number of years. The new sustainable structure will enable the clubhouse to be open and ready for the 2021/22 season after considerable damage was caused by poor winter weather.

The refurbishment to the clubhouse, which includes new ceilings, windows and plastering, will improve the amenities offered to the local community in Tamworth and the surrounding area. The clubhouse provides important facilities to supporters and teams on match days and during the week. In addition, it is regularly hired by community groups for a variety of uses.

Since 2016 the ground has moved from a facility that was used two nights a week and a Saturday afternoon to a seven-days-a-week all year-round operation. The club has grown from one competitive team to 25 teams ranging from under-7s to the first team. There is also a full-time scholarship programme for 60 students aged 16-19. A women’s section was recently introduced with junior and adult teams. As a result, Tamworth FC is now the largest multi-team football club in the area.

Mark Maybury, Project Manager at Tamworth FC and who spearheaded the grant application, said: "We are excited that the club is now able to repair and refurbish this important facility at the Lamb Stadium. We were devastated when the poor weather in the winter caused our clubhouse to become unusable and left us with a substantial repair bill. We are incredibly grateful for the FSIF grant from the Premier League, which will benefit all those that use the ground. The grant will enable us to have a new weatherproof roof and a facility that the community can use when the new season starts.”

Funded by the Premier League, the FSIF awardscapital grants to eligible English Football League, English National League, Women's Pyramid and Welsh Premier League clubs to improve stadium safety and enable clubs to satisfy The FA’s ground-grading requirements, without which many clubs would be unable to achieve the necessary criteria to achieve promotion.

About the Football Stadia Improvement Fund

The FSIF is the sister organisation of the Football Foundation and is solely funded by the Premier League. Itis the country’s largest provider of grants towards projects that help improve the comfort and safety of lower-league football grounds in both the professional and amateur game. These improvements range from new football stands and turnstiles to floodlighting and improved provision for disabled supporters.

Visit https://footballfoundation.org.uk/grant/football-stadia-improvement-fund for more information.

About the Football Foundation

The Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the UK. It champions and supports fair access to quality football facilities for everyone, regardless of gender, race, disability or place. Visit footballfoundation.org.uk