New £1m football pitch to get community funding

A football club is to get a £1m synthetic pitch partly funded by West Sussex property developers.

Three Bridges FC, in Crawley, will get up to £100,000 from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which is a fund collected from developers to pay for the facilities needed by a town's growing population.

The club, which plays in the Isthmian League South East division, has already raised £70,000.

The rest of the funding is coming from the Football Foundation, a charity run by the Premier League, Football Association and the government.

The CIL is administered by Crawley Borough Council, with most of the money being spent on roads and schools for new developments.

Chris Irving, chairman of Three Bridges FC, said: “We have been working very closely with the Football Foundation over the past three years on this facility, and the grant award from Crawley Borough Council was the last piece of the jigsaw to get the project over the line.

“Good quality playing facilities have a transformative impact on physical and mental health and play an important role in bringing people together and strengthening local communities."

Crawley's cabinet member for leisure and wellbeing Chris Mullins said: “We had little hesitation in approving the request from Three Bridges FC for a grant to help it install an all-weather pitch.

"It will be a valuable community asset and allow the club offer more football development activities."

The project is subject to receiving planning permission.

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