The FA is helping to invest £200M ($244.7M) as "part of a scheme to improve grassroots football in England," according to the BBC. The "Parklife" project will build 30 new all-purpose facilities by '20 in a partnership between the FA, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, the Premier League and Sport England. One project, the SGP Sheffield Graves center, opened on Wednesday. Interim England Manager Gareth Southgate said, "We will benefit for decades. When talking about player development, you're always thinking about short, medium and long-term strategies. It can't always be about what's right for the next 12 months." On Monday, the FA announced a new overseas broadcast rights deal for the FA Cup that is reportedly worth £820M ($1B). FA CEO Martin Glenn "has said it will allow more investment" in pitches, facilities and participation programs. Glenn: "If you compare our country to others on the same latitude, they have a lot more artificial pitches. Muddy pitches favor the strong children, not necessarily the skillful child and we want to improve that situation." Asked if this investment was coming "too late" for English football to catch up with its rivals, Glenn said, "We start where we start from, don't we? Football is felt about so strongly in England with millions of people playing. We've got money in the game to invest in these things so it's never too late" (BBC, 10/26). SKY SPORTS reported the center in Sheffield "is the second of its kind in the city, while a third is due to open there next year" as the FA plans to offer "greater access to player and coach development opportunities." The FA "also wants to ensure players have access to qualified coaches" and to support the recruitment and development of referees. Glenn said, "These hubs are the start of something big. The Sheffield center marks the beginning of the end of a story all too familiar to the grassroots footballer of poor pitches, woefully inadequate changing facilities and a battle against the elements to get fixtures completed each winter" (SKY SPORTS, 10/26).
