Local and National Provision of Football (Soccer) Facilities

The first 200 words of this essay...

Local and National Provision of Football (Soccer) Facilities

Introduction

It is estimated that around 70 thousand boys play football, for either a school or club team, at each age level between the age ranges of Under 11 to Under 16, and that over 500 thousand play between the ages of nine to 16.

It is therefore, somewhat surprising that there are not enough British players coming through youth systems, academies and centres of excellence, as this is only twelve percent of those who play at youth level.

Actually only 0.6% of that 500000 register in football academies, and a further 1.2% in centres of excellence. Also, no football academies or centres of excellence have registered the maximum number they can, which is possibly why, even though many people complain, there are so many foreign players in the Premier League.

Football is actually the sixth most popular participant sport in the UK, albeit the most popular team sport, with cricket the second a long way behind. Unfortunately, people (adults) prefer to watch it that play it.

'Grass-roots' football in the United Kingdom is the responsibility of the 43 County Football Associations. These are independent bodies, which