World Cup football fever

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is well under way but football fever starts at grassroots levels in the UK, on the local playing fields scattered throughout our towns and villages.

There are more than 21,600 community playing fields in Great Britain, occupying over 54,000 hectares, enough space for 76,000 football pitches!

Football is the UK’s favourite spectator sport and the most popular team sport to participate in. An estimated 13.5 million people regularly play in some form.

England’s famous EURO 2022 win, attended by a record 87,912 people, is set to drive a growth in UK women’s football. In England alone, over 416,000 new opportunities to engage women and girls in grassroots football activities across schools, clubs and the community have been created as part of the event’s legacy.

Source: Dataloft, Ordnance Survey, Magic League, England Football