Top prize for Luton's Crawley Green Recreation Ground at the FA's Grassroots Football Awards

Crawley Green Recreation Ground looks totally transformed after input from the Football Foundation and a grant of £58,000

Thanks to funding from the Premier League, The FA and Government via the Football Foundation, Crawley Green Recreation Ground has won the FA’s Grounds Team of the Year at the annual Grassroots Football Awards.

The award recognises the fantastic work head groundskeeper Owen Younger and his team have put into getting these pitches looking and playing their best.

Owen admitted that without funding from the Football Foundation, they would not have been able to achieve as much as they have done.

Crawley Green Recreation Ground was in pretty poor shape before head groundskeeper Owen Younger and his team took advantage of a Football Foundation app and Premier League funding

He said: “We’ve gone from a situation where our pitches were in a very poor condition to having one ‘advanced’ and many ‘good’ pitches.

“As any groundskeeper will tell you, groundskeeping is a passion. The thing that keeps me going is knowing that generations of kids will have the ability to play on these pitches well into the future.”

A few years ago, the pitches at Crawley Green were in a sorry state, causing matches to be called off regularly and leaving players disappointed. The pitches are now almost unrecognisable, supporting more than 30 grassroots teams every season.

This transformation began with PitchPower – the Football Foundation’s free web app – through which the Crawley Green’s grounds team were able to submit pitch inspections.

These inspections allowed the team to unlock bespoke advice from experts at the Grounds Management Association (GMA).

Thanks to the GMA’s feedback on how to improve their pitches, Crawley Green were able to identify the work required and unlock a £58k grant through the Foundation’s Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund.

Football Foundation CEO Robert Sullivan said: “Quality grass pitches are vital for the grassroots game and yet, every season, thousands of games are called off due to poor playing surfaces.

“Thanks to the support of our partners at the Premier League, The FA and Government, the Football Foundation will be investing £21 million a year to get grass pitches across the country looking and playing their best.”

Since its creation in 2000, the Foundation has invested more £975 million in improve grassroots facilities across the country.

> Head to the Football Foundation’s website and sign up for PitchPower to start your grass pitch transformation journey.