The FA will invest a record £260M ($405M) "in grassroots football over the next four years," according to Chris Wheeler of the London DAILY MAIL. The news "could not have been timed better after it emerged that the fewest number of English players started for Premier League teams on the opening weekend of the season -- just 73 out of 220, barely a third." The FA’s investment "will be supplemented by a further multi-million pound investment supported by the government in the creation of 30 new city hubs across England." The National Game Strategy for Participation and Development, launched by FA CEO Martin Glenn, "will target four key areas of the amateur game" for investment between now and '19 -- facilities, coaching, participation and developing the football workforce (DAILY MAIL, 8/12). In London, Ian Herbert wrote Glenn said that "the deterioration in grassroots and facilities and coaching was the biggest challenge the game faced." The FA "is attempting to build the number of boys and girls playing the game, as well as the number of disabled players." There "will also be an attempt to stem the fall-off in the number of traditional 11 v 11 games among adult men." A sum of £4M ($6.2M) per year "will be invested in grassroots coaching to improve the number of elite players." There "will be a network of county coaches." FA Dir for Participation & Development Kelly Simmons said, “It is no secret that facilities need to get better -- today we set out clearly and unequivocally how we can make that happen -- not only through the creation of city hubs, but also investing in improving what already exists" (INDEPENDENT, 8/12).
