TWO Bradford schools and their wider community have scored a major boost for football facilities thanks to a £330,000 grant.

The Premier League and the FA Facilities fund has awarded the cash to the Southfield Grange Trust to make major improvements to its football facilities – which will benefit pupils at its two schools as well as the local community.

The trust, based in Haycliffe Lane in Little Horton, runs Grange Technology College and Southfield Special School.

The grant will help it replace the older of its two pitches with a third-generation facility – comprising artificial grass blades with a base layer of sand, and an infill of rubber crumb – while floodlights and new fencing will be added to the existing 3G pitch.

Work is now underway on the facilities, and the pitches will be ready to use by mid February.

The changes will improve sports facilities available to the trust’s 2,100 students, and the pitches will also be available for community use outside school hours through the Southfield Grange Sports Centre.

Work is also being carried out by the schools to reinstate and fully utilise changing facilities next to the new pitch.

The Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund is funded by the Premier League, the FA and the Government, through Sport England. It is delivered by the Football Foundation, the country’s largest sports charity. The grant was awarded to improve the experience for regular grassroots players, and to attract new players to the game.

Ruth Bowditch, campus business manager at the trust, said: “This is a great opportunity for our students and many other local organisations to benefit from first-class facilities, improving grass-roots sport at a well-known and accessible community location. This is also a timely improvement which will benefit the scholars at our new Sixth Form Football Academy.

“The improvements to our old pitch were needed and the installation of floodlights at the pitch at the south end of our site is a welcome addition which will enable us to offer greater capacity for bookings.”

Paul Thorogood, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: “Congratulations should go to the Southfield Grange Trust for working with the West Riding FA to secure this Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund grant.”