Annual grassroots funding for football facility maintenance by UK local councils is down by almost £1million in 2013 compared with 2007, a Sky Sports News investigation can reveal.

Sky Sports News sent Freedom of Information requests to 417 councils across the UK, asking them for their annual spending on football pitch and facility maintenance in 2007, 2012 and 2013.

Using the results from the 294 councils who responded, we can reveal a decrease in total spending on facilities across UK councils from £5,900,757 in 2007 to £4,916,072 in 2013. This is a decrease of £984,684 or a 17% reduction.

Reported by Sky News. You can read the full story here. 

Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.