FUNDING | Big Boost For Port

Club Website, Sep 6, 2020

Great news for football in Southport today as we are celebrating receiving funding from the Premier League to help  prepare for the restart of football and safe return of supporters to our stadium.

The Matchday Support Fund grant will help Southport put in place measures that will make our ground safer for the 2020/21 season given the challenges caused by COVID-19.

The grant will help the club pay for the increased costs of staging our games, increased stewarding, purchasing hand sanitisers, PPE, temperature checking, transport to games and so many other things we have to have in place before we can get what we all want, fans back in to our games.

The Matchday Support Fund is managed by the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF), which is financed by the Premier League and supports non-league and Women’s Football Pyramid clubs with the cost of improvements to their grounds.

The Matchday Support Fund follows the recent Pitch and Club Preparation Funds, which saw £8.7m in grants awarded by the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation to prepare the country’s playing surfaces and facilities for the return of football.

James Tedford Head Of Operations at Southport, said: “The Matchday Support Fund grant is a massive boost to Southport Football Club. We have already seen, even playing matches behind closed doors, just how much is involved in making our stadium safe and giving our supporters the confidence to know that they are entering a safe environment”

  About the Matchday Support Fund

The application window for the Matchday Support Fund is open from 2 September to 5pm on 16 September to eligible National League System clubs in Steps 1-6, the Welsh Premier League and women’s clubs in Tiers 1-5. In total, 65 leagues and more than 1,100 clubs are able to benefit from this financial support. For more information visit: https://footballfoundation.org.uk/grant/matchday-support-fund.

About the Football Stadia Improvement Fund

The FSIF is solely funded by the Premier League and is 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.