Up to £850,000 of grant money from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation will be invested in a 3G, all-weather pitch in Sloughbottom Park.
The money will enable local young people to play football on the pitch all year round and also means the wider Sloughbottom Park revamp will be rolled out.
Councillor Lucy Galvin, leader of Norwich City Council, said:
“This is marvellous news and fantastic for footballers in the Mile Cross area, as well as youth teams in the area.
“The new pitch, together with new sports facilities, will help transform youngsters’ opportunities to get fit and have fun too.
“And you never know what will come out of this, there could be a budding Bellingham, Hemp or Kane, playing out their dreams on Sloughbottom Park’s brand-new soccer pitch.”
Robert Sullivan, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said:
“The Football Foundation is working closely with our partners – the Premier League, The FA and Government – to transform the quality of grassroots facilities in England by delivering projects like this across the country. 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.
“This grant award to Norwich City Council towards developing a new 3G pitch at Sloughbottom Park is fantastic news for the local community and will help give more people access to a great place to play.”
Norwich City Council was awarded £7.6m by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), to deliver health and wellbeing improvements to Sloughbottom Park.
The Soughbottom Park project includes:
- All weather, FIFA-quality 3G football pitch
- New sports hub with Changing Places toilet
- Refurbishment of existing pavilion to include café, public toilets, and community room
- Destination play area
- BMX track improvements and modular storage
- Car park, paths, signage, and lighting
- Repairs to Dolphin Path
The council will work with Norfolk Football Association to develop the Sports Hub community programme and will also appoint a contractor to start building work on site next year.
