Manchester in shortlist for Sport England 'City of Football' Bid

On 6th June, Sport England announced that Manchester, along with Nottingham and Portsmouth, have made the shortlist to become the country’s first ‘City of Football.’

The City of Football pilot scheme aims to find new ways to get more people playing football regularly, particularly those aged 14-25 years. The successful city will look to unite public, private and voluntary organisations in delivering all forms of the grassroots game and addressing the decline in people playing football.

Over the coming months, Manchester and its competitors will develop full proposals for how they will turn this commitment into a plan to get more people in their city playing football on a regular basis, and Sport England will visit each city and work with each consortium to develop these plans. The title of ’City of Football’ along with £1.6 million of National Lottery funding to run a two-year pilot programme, will then be announced in the Autumn.

With the development of our Broadhurst Park stadium and training facilities, along with the club’s continuing community and development work, we feel that FC United will be strongly placed to support and deliver on the aims of increasing participation in grassroots football to make Manchester the true City of Football. FC United have already taken an active role in the planning and consultation process for Manchester’s bid, and we will continue to support Manchester FA, Manchester City Council and other organisations in their bid to develop a proposal and shape football provision across Manchester.