Nottingham named City of Football

The Football Association had £1.6million of public funding for the amateur game cut by Sport England in March after failing to reverse a decline in participation - last year there were 1.84million people playing football regularly, a fall of 100,000 since April 2013.

In a new funding initiative, Nottingham has been named as Sport England's City of Football.

A statement from Sport England said Nottingham clinched their bid "by mobilising an impressive group of private, public and voluntary sector partners from both inside and outside the traditional football family, to do whatever it takes to get more people - particularly those aged 14-25 years - playing all kinds of football regularly."

One key element is a digital platform - 'Playbook' - which will help people planning football activities in Nottingham being able to target a sector of the population with relevant offers.

Nigel Cooke, head of One Nottingham, said: "Over the next two years, we will create new football partnerships; develop new technologies; encourage more people to play, especially 14 to 25 year olds, women and girls and people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds; and share our learning so that the rest of England can benefit from our insight."

Source : PA

Source: PA