Budweiser to invest £1m into grassroots football as part of FA Cup sponsorship
The FA and Budweiser have announced that Budweiser is set to invest £1 million directly into grassroots football in the UK over the next two seasons.
The new initiative, entitled 'Budweiser Club Futures' will fuel this grassroots support by giving sixteen grants of £50,000 to non-league clubs across steps 5-7 of the English Football pyramid. It is hoped this will 'help clubs to help themselves' by improving their general facilities. The concept has also aimed to enable clubs to become more financially sustainable and inspire future generations of footballers.
Eight grants will be available during the 2012/13 season and a further eight during the 2013/14 season. Additionally, one of the chosen eight clubs during each season will be given a £100,000 'super grant' as voted by football fans through the FA Cup and Budweiser Facebook pages.
Budweiser European marketing director, Iain Newell, commented: "We know the importance of non-league clubs to the future of the beautiful game and to local communities so we're proud to be able to give these clubs a financial boost. As a long-standing supporter of football around the world, Budweiser is committed to partnering with the communities where we live and work to support local clubs as they build their legacies. Budweiser also has a long-standing history of promoting responsible drinking so in addition to the core funding for vital infrastructure and other improvements, each of the sixteen winning clubs will be given additional funding and support to run community based Responsible Drinking programmes."
Closing date for submission of applications is 31 October 2012.