The beautiful game is occasionally ugly, be it due to the extortionate transfer fees in the Premier League or the occasional horrific abuse from the stands, but there are numerous initiatives that warm the heart and highlight the essence of the game. One example is through the support of the National Lottery’s funding which has helped the sport to strengthen in key areas and improve the all-round experience for fans as a result.
The National Lottery has been a firm favourite with the public since its establishment in 1994. As a result of the funding it provides, football – alongside a range of other facets of society – has been able to flourish in certain areas. With the hype surrounding the lottery results hogging the limelight on occasions, it can be easy to forget the amazing work the injection of funds from the National Lottery goes towards. Alongside helping grassroots football, the millions of pounds from the UK’s National Lottery is given to a selection of good causes, with money going to community groups, the health sector, educational and environmental projects, and a range of other worthwhile causes.
With regards to sport, since it was launched, the National Lottery has invested more than £5.7 billion into community sport and helped the general population live more active lives as a result. Football fans are able to take part in sporting projects in their local communities, clubs are surviving and thriving thanks to some much-needed financial help, and the beautiful game is continuing to have a massive impact on society as a whole.
Lottery players rewarded with free tickets
Due to the global pandemic halting much of football and particularly impacting the smaller clubs within the game, support was vitally important in order to keep many clubs afloat after a large period of time without any money coming in. Even before the pandemic, many non-league sides were struggling financially. Clubs at a lower level certainly don’t have the riches available to them like many Championship and Premier League sides do.
As a result of the worrying climate developing in the non-league game in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, a total of 231 clubs signed up to the unique ‘Buy One Get One Free’ National Lottery Football Weekends campaign. Running between 19th March and 16th April this year, the reward for fans was due to the continued support of National Lottery players towards the smaller, community-based clubs who needed it during a hugely damaging pandemic. To be exact, more than £12.5million of funding helped these types of community clubs survive during uncertain times. Without the support of lottery funding, many of the communities that these clubs aim to serve would have been left without a football club. Likewise, fans of these clubs would have had their club ripped away from them due to unforeseen circumstances. Thankfully, though, many sides survived the challenging times which resulted in more than more than 100,000 tickets being made available to football-supporting lottery players as a thank you.
The English game wouldn’t be the same without lottery funding
With campaigns such as the aforementioned National Lottery Football Weekends helping to improve the overall landscape of the non-league game, fans have been able to witness the preservation of some of the UK’s oldest clubs during a damaging period. Should the funding not have been made available to clubs that have been responsible for nurturing talents such as Jamie Vardy and Michail Antonio, then English football simply wouldn’t be the same again. For many fans, that potential scenario was mightily depressing. Thankfully, though, with the help of the National Lottery, football is continuing to change lives and entertain thousands.
