The Football Association is to lose £1.6m of public funding for the amateur game in England after failing to reverse a sharp decline in the number of people regularly playing the sport.

Sport England, the body responsible for distributing public money to increase sports participation, says the reduction is a clear message that football needs to change its grassroots strategy.

And quite right too. The FA seems only cares about the clubs at the top end of the scale - no wonder the national team is a shambles as youngsters are not given a chance to shine.