Welsh football bosses reveal cost to improve facilities

Football officials say it will cost £150m to deliver the facilities the game needs across Wales.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) claim the investment is required by the end of the decade if they are to keep pace with the surge in participation figures across the country.

It comes as FAW chief executive Noel Mooney claimed the change of government in Wales was an "opportunity to reset how sport is funded in Wales".

The FAW's charitable arm – the Cymru Football Foundation (CFF) – has overseen £27m of spending to develop facilities across all levels of the sport over the past four years.

Now a new consultation suggests funding of five times that amount is needed – outweighing the CFF's current funding - highlighting a shortfall in pitches and other facilities alongside a 21% increase in numbers playing the sport.

In particular, that includes a 47% increase in the number of women and girls while the number of young players has gone up by a third.

Unveiling new Local Football Facility Plans, existing and new sites have been identified across 22 local authority areas to "meet the fast-growing needs of the women and girls' game" and "address current gaps in facility provision to meet demand."

Mooney said: "Investing in facilities is essential for the future of the game across Cymru – demand is at an all-time high and these local football facility plans are our strategy to provide essential positive, safe environments for our grassroots players to thrive."

Welsh Government – who Mooney has previously called on for more support – say they will commission their own audit of regional sporting facilities, but that football facilities were "an important consideration".

Wales' qualification for Euro 2025 has also seen a 47% increase in participation in women's and girls' football across the country, placing greater demand on facilities

The FAW-backed review saw local clubs and local authorities – and other sporting bodies - feed into a survey of current facilities.

It highlighted several key areas lacking against demand, including only 43% of grass pitches designated as either "poor" or "unclassified", while 18 of the 22 local areas were underserved by artificial surfaces. Changing facilities were also underserved.

With participation numbers reaching a new high of 120,000 registered players earlier this month, demand is expected to increase.

The FAW invests into grassroots via the Cymru Football Foundation, which also receives funding from Sport Wales, Welsh Government, the English Premier League as well as local partners.

But Mooney has long called for greater support from Cardiff Bay and, speaking to BBC Politics Wales on Sunday, outlined hopes of fresh support from the new Plaid Cymru Welsh government.

With sport now the responsibility of a senior minister – Plaid's Heledd Fychan – Mooney said: "It's something we've looked for a long time to have a minister responsible for sport... what that means tangibly is we need more funding for facilities.

"Football has now 120,000 registered players, our new strategy will look to grow more and more - and we need great facilities to do that.

"We've got an opportunity to reset how sport is funded in Wales, and we're very confident this government will do just that."

Mooney also suggested the appointment of a minister for public and preventative health could "allow us to access resources that will get people playing more sport."

The Welsh Government said: "This Welsh Government is committed to working closely with governing bodies to expand opportunities and remove barriers in sport.

"We will commission an audit of community and regional sporting facilities and will engage with key partners, including national governing bodies, to inform targeted capital investment over the government term. Football facilities will be an important consideration in taking forward these commitments."