Fletcher Moss Rangers produced Prem players Rashford and Lingard. Now their ground is barely fit for purpose. It’s the same story up and down the country as dilapidated facilities are failing our next generation of stars...
ON the face of it, English football moves into 2019 in rude health.
Scratch beneath the surface, though, and grassroots football still finds itself on life support.
Clubs such as Ridgeway Rovers and Fletcher Moss Rangers may lack the allure of a Manchester United or Spurs – but the work they do is every bit as vital to the future of the sport.
Harry Kane, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford are just three of the players to graduate from these two academies of excellence.
But, unlike the glittering centres of youth development boasted by the Premier League clubs they now play for, Ridgeway and Fletcher Moss continue their work on a shoestring and an army of volunteers. And life is tough.
“There’s a massive danger that we overlook the grassroots game in this country,” said Dave Bricknell, Kane’s former coach at Ridgeway.
“There is so much money at the top level of the game, but we have games called off after three days of rain. The councils don’t do anything with the pitches, the facilities are rubbish and it costs an absolute fortune to hire any astroturf.
“All the costs are being passed on to parents and then you’re missing out on all the kids that the parents can’t afford to pay for.”
It’s a similarly depressing tale in the North West, with Fletcher Moss struggling to make ends meet – and its production line of talent counting for nothing.
“There have been 90- odd players who have come through the club and gone on to play professional football,” said Dave Horrocks, one of the club’s founders.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s cricket, hockey, rugby, whatever – there is not enough investment in grassroots sport in this country.
“All the money that’s going around at the top level and there