Shropshire FA face nine per cent funds cut
Shropshire is facing a funding cut of nine per cent as part of a plan by Football Association bosses to push money into grassroots facilities and coaching.
Roy Waterfield, the chief executive of Shropshire FA, added that the re-allocation of resources will help to increase the number of 3G pitches in the country and see greater investment in grass roots coaching.
The cut will take effect from July 1 this year and Waterfield did not rule out the possibility of redundancies within the county as a result of the reduction.
He said: "All county football associations get funding from the Football Association – and all of them are getting cuts in their annual grant by nine per cent.
"We have to make savings in our annual expenditure. We have to account for all the money we get from the FA each year, so there is a process that we follow.
"Once we get notified of our financial settlement then we have to put proposals to them and they then give us their approval that they are happy with how we intend to spend our resources.
"We are still involved in that process. Obviously the main consideration for us going forward is that any changes we make to the organisation have the minimal impact on our member clubs."
On redundancies, he said: "The amount of money that we spend on our workforce is our single biggest expenditure.
"No stone has been left un-turned in thinking how we can make changes to the way we operate to have the least impact on our customers."
Asked if there have already been redundancies he said: "I wouldn't comment on individual circumstances.
"At some point in the future we will unveil a new business strategy going forward which includes details of our workforce."
An FA spokesman said: "(FA Chairman) Greg Dyke has stated his desire to improve facilities across England as well as the standard of coaching and coach education for the benefit of young English players.
"This work is in line with that ambition and will result in an overall uplift in the funding of grassroots football.
"The FA, as a not-for profit body, already spends around £1million a week on grassroots football and will reprioritise another £30m of spend annually through this strategy.
"The government has already committed a further £50m of funding."
