Clubs from the lower reaches of English football "will be able to bid for grants of up to £150,000 ($237,900) under a new initiative announced by the FA," according to the PA. Clubs from steps five, six and seven of the league pyramid "will be able to bid for 16 individual grants of £50,000 ($79,300) over the next two years under the scheme," which is being sponsored by Budweiser. The idea behind the campaign, called Budweiser Club Futures, is "to give-run down and semi-professional clubs money to improve their facilities." Eight grants will be available during the '12-13 season and eight more will be granted the following season (PA, 8/22).
SIX DIGITS: In Manchester, Mike Keegan noted that the National Football Museum in Manchester "has attracted more visitors in six weeks than it did in a whole year" at its previous home in Preston. They are hoping to attract 350,000 punters to the £8.5M ($13.5M) venue in its first year and said that the figures show they are on target (MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS, 8/21). The National Football Museum was celebrating Tuesday as visitor number 100,000 came through the turnstile of the new Manchester attraction (National Football Museum).
