FOOTBALL STADIA IMPROVEMENT FUND (FSIF) – FANS’ FUND

The Premier League (PL) has committed £750,000 per year for the next three years to be allocated to support projects which are for the benefit of fans, with the creation of a “Fans’ Fund”. The Fans’ Fund will form part of the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF), which is administered by the Football Foundation (FF).

Criteria

The criteria for the Fans’ Fund will follow the same general criteria that would be applied to applications for any of the funding provided by the PL to the FF including:

• The Fans’ Fund will be open to bona fide groups whose objectives include improving the way football supporters and clubs engage with each other and/or which seek to improve fans’ experience of the game (excluding commercial proposals).

• Applicant groups must be able to demonstrate stability and accountability.
• Applications can be for specific, time-limited projects and/or for regular running costs.
• The FF/FSIF contribution will not exceed 50% of regular running costs of applicant organisations.
• Grants will normally be for projects whose costs fall in no more than three financial years.
• The Fans’ Fund will be developed in co-operation with the FA activity in this area.

Please read these instructions carefully before you fill in the Expression of Interest (EOI) form.

Developing a project and completing a funding application can be a daunting and time consuming task. The FSIF’s Fans’ Fund Scheme has a two stage process to ensure that only those projects with a realistic chance of being supported are requested to complete a full application and are therefore entered into what is a competitive and rigorous assessment and decision making process.

General Guidelines

• Applicants will need to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI), providing an outline of their project, to the FF.

• EOIs will be assessed jointly by the PL and FF; following which successful applicants will be invited to submit a full application.
• Applications must include defined outcomes for the activities proposed for funding, measurable where possible and be subject to monitoring and evaluation.
• Applications must be accompanied by a robust business plan indicating viability of the organisation and value for money for the project applied for.
• Priority will be given to time-limited projects, innovation and start-up costs; core costs will usually be restricted to a fixed percentage of project costs.
• Priority will be given to fan groups from under-represented communities.
• Full applications will be presented to the FSIF Board for a final decision.

It is anticipated that the demand for the Fans’ Fund Scheme will be extremely high, with only the strongest EOI submissions being taken forward to application. The joint PL’s and Foundation's decision making will take into account a number of factors including, but not limited to, the following:

• The overall viability of the proposed project.
• That the applicant has demonstrated a clearly identified need for the proposed project.
• The degree to which an application matches the Fans’ Fund’s priorities and the extent to which the project would contribute to the overall benefit of supporters.
• How the proposed project fits with existing local, regional and national FA activities in this area.
• The applicant has demonstrated an appropriate level of partnership working.
• The status/strength of the partnership funding of the proposed project.

Apply

The application window for the Fans' Fund is currently closed.

It is recommended that you contact Cathy Long at the Premier League for more information on future application windows.  Please contact the switchboard on 020 7864 9000 or at supporters@premierleague.com.