College Football Facilities and Community Access Fund
Unlock up to £1,750 for your college
Improve your football facilities, strengthen local partnerships and create more opportunities for students and grassroots football.
The College Football Facilities & Community Access Fund, delivered by AoC Sport, supports colleges to improve their football facilities and explore opportunities to make them available to the wider community.
Funding available
AoC Sport colleges can apply for either reward independently or complete both to unlock up to £1,750 in funding.
Take the first step towards improving your football facilities.
To receive £250, your college must:
1. Contact ollie.kerrison@aoc.co.uk to be introduced to your local County FA Facility Lead.
2. Work with your County FA to complete a PitchPower assessment.
3. Submit your PitchPower report to AoC Sport.
4. Attend a facility planning meeting with AoC Sport and your County FA.
You do not need to apply for Reward 2 to receive this funding.County FAs will receive resource to support PitchPower assessments. If your County FA cannot assist, please contact AoC Sport directly.
Unlock a further £1,500 by completing the Community Access Commitment outlining how your college intends to make its football facilities available to local clubs, community groups or organisations.
Apply button: College Football Facilities & Community Access Fund – Fill out form
This reward is for colleges whose facilities are not currently open for community use.
Community access arrangements are flexible and can be determined by your college to suit your curriculum, college sport, staffing capacity and operational requirements. There is no minimum number of hours required.
Funding can support:
• Pitch maintenance and improvements.
• Staffing costs.
• Marketing and promotion.
• Booking systems.
• Football facility development projects.
What could community access look like?
Community access can be as simple as opening your facilities during evenings, weekends or holidays when they are not being used for college activities.
Partner with a local club to provide a pitch for a Pan-Disability team to train or play one evening per week.
Eligible colleges and their partners could combine funding from two schemes:
• College Football Facilities & Community Access Fund: £1,750.
• Pan-Ability Club Partnership Fund: £1,000.
Total potential funding: £2,750.
Eligibility criteria and funding conditions for both schemes apply.
Work with your County FA to identify a local club that needs training or matchday facilities. Your college could provide pitch access on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, offer changing facilities and nominate a staff contact for bookings.
The arrangement could be reviewed after 12 months to ensure it continues to work for both parties.
This approach supports grassroots football, strengthens local partnerships and may generate additional facility hire income.
Why get involved?
The fund can help your college to:
• improve the quality and sustainability of its football facilities
• build stronger links with your County FA and local clubs
• create coaching, volunteering and leadership opportunities for students
• demonstrate community impact and enhance your local reputation
• generate potential facility hire income and strengthen future funding applications.
Who can apply?
The fund is open to all AoC Sport member colleges that own, manage or hold a long-term lease on eligible football facilities.
Eligible facilities include:
• Grass football pitches.
• Artificial grass pitches (AGPs).
• Indoor football facilities.
Key dates
• Opens: Tuesday 3 November 2026, 9am.
• Closes: Friday 4 December 2026, 5pm.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and may close early if all funding has been allocated. Colleges are encouraged to apply early.
Ready to get started?
1. Get in touch: Contact AoC Sport to connect with your local County FA Facility Lead.
2. Assess your facilities: Complete and submit a PitchPower assessment and attend a facility planning meeting.
3. Explore community access: If eligible, submit your Community Access Commitment outlining how your college intends to support local football.
For further information, contact ollie.kerrison@aoc.co.uk.