Portsmouth has been identified as an area that has a shortfall of artificial grass pitches (AGPs) to support the development of youth and adult football in the city.
We’re working with Hampshire FA on a funding bid to the Premier League, The FA and the Government’s Football Foundation to provide a football hub at King George V playing fields in Cosham. We’re applying for funding to add to the £1.2 million which has already been allocated to the scheme.
The scheme will provide a new pavilion with changing facilities, café space and toilets, as well as the AGPs. The two AGPs will be marked up to provide a variety of pitch options, such as:
2 full size 100 x 64m pitches
4 9v9 pitches
6 7v7 pitches
12 5v5 pitches
Having a range of smaller pitches will help meet the needs of youth football matches and training and would enable more children to take part in the sport. There will still be plenty of grass football pitches available in the rest of the playing fields and we are considering what other improvements we could make, such as additional bins or seating.
We previously held two engagement events at Cosham Library and also had a survey for people to give their views. The results can be viewed at Your City Your Say.
The planning application for the project has now been approved.
Construction is now well underway, after contractors started we aim to minimise disruption as much as possible and apologise for any inconvenience this work may cause.