A SHIPLEY-BASED junior football club have been awarded a £5,000 Pitch Preparation Fund grant from the Premier League, The FA and the Government’s Football Foundation.

The funding will enable Bolton Woods JFC, who play in the Craven Air Valley Junior League, to prepare their football pitches so that they are match-fit for when it is safe to play the sport again.

The Pitch Preparation Fund was set up in support of the game and is providing grants to clubs that have lost out on normal revenue streams during this difficult period.

The Football Foundation is a charity funded by the Premier League, The FA and the Government, through Sport England.

Clubs can use their grant to help pay for the cost of materials for work such as verti-draining, chain harrowing, rolling, over-seeding, fertilising, weed-killing. It can also be used for routine preparatory work such as grass cutting and the setting out and line-marking of pitches.

They are also being given access to the Football Foundation Grounds keeping Community. This is a free online resource the foundation developed with the FA and the Grounds Management Association, containing advice and guidance.

Woods' general manager Tony Miller believes the funds were needed to get his club ready for the upcoming season.

He said: “The Football Foundation Grant will enable us bring our pitches up to a very high standard after the worst winter for rain I have ever seen.

"This grant will make our pitches better able to withstand the winter ahead.”

Interim chief executive of the Football Foundation Robert Sullivan added: “This is a vital grant to help Bolton Woods JFC get their pitches match-fit.

“The Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation exists to help provide quality infrastructure at the lower-levels of the game.

"Pitch Preparation Fund grants like this one are giving a helping hand to clubs across the country to get their playing surfaces ready for when the game is allowed to begin again, following government advice.”