England Star Spurs On New Sports Facility
Tottenham Hotspur winger Andros Townsend officially unveiled a newly resurfaced third generation artificial grass pitch at a local school in North London this weekend, funded by the Football Foundation, alongside England Women international, Rachel Yankey, West Ham United legend, Sir Trevor Brooking and BBC pundit, Garth Crooks, who is also a Trustee at the Academy.
To commemorate the day, which also celebrated the school’s tenth anniversary, pupils from the school took on and beat a Queens Park Rangers FC side 4-2 before Andros Townsend and Rachel Yankey gave a Q&A session, hosted by Crooks, in the Academy’s theatre.
The upgraded facility will provide Capital City Academy, Brent Council Sports Department, the London Football League and ABC Coaching with a state-of-the-art playing surface to help encourage participation in football amongst youngsters in the area.
The site will also have time available for community hire such as after-school clubs and local primary schools and will allow Capital City Academy enhance its links with local professional football clubs, Queens Park Rangers FC, Brentford FC and Leyton Orient FC.
The club worked in partnership with the Middlesex FA to secure a £366,368 grant from the Football Foundation. Funded by the Premier League, the FA, and the Government, via Sport England, since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 12,000 grants worth more than £473m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £732m – £1.205bn of investment into the grassroots game.
Across the whole of London, the Foundation has awarded 129 grants totalling £22m towards grassroots sports projects worth nearly £52m. In Middlesex, the Foundation has awarded 98 grants worth £14.5m towards grassroots projects worth over £45m.
Andros Townsend said: ‘It was fantastic to help open the new 3G surface at Capital City Academy, and to see so many kids enjoying the new pitch already. Facilities like this one, made possible by the Football Foundation with funding from the Premier League, The FA and DCMS via Sport England, are crucial in aiding the development of young players.’
‘It wasn’t so long ago that I was playing on surfaces like this, so I can vouch for how good they really are. More pitches like this one mean that less games are called off because of bad weather, something that is particularly relevant given the sort of weather we have been having lately!’
Rachel Yankey OBE added: ‘I grew up around this area, so it is a real privilege to be here at the opening of this fantastic new facility. The surface at Capital City Academy will provide an important hub for grassroots football in the local community, and I’m certain it will inspire more girls and boys to get involved in football.’
