AN AWARD-WINNING junior football club from Blackburn has backed The FA's new National Game Strategy for Participation and Development as potentially making a 'massive difference' to grassroots football in East Lancashire.

Youngsters from the Abu Hanifah Foundation Football Club were invited along to the launch of the new strategy, which comes with a promised investment of £260million over the next four years, last week.

And while the 34 juniors enjoyed a training session on Lancashire County FA's 3G pitch in Leyland, vice-chairman Abid Saleh was listening intently to the plans laid down by FA chief executive Martin Glenn and the organisation's director of participation and development Kelly Simmons.

He said: "What they are actually proposing will be huge for grassroots football, it will make a massive difference.

"The facilities around East Lancashire, and the whole country, need to be updated, they just aren't good enough.

"As a club we focus entirely on children and we struggle with facilities, especially with pitches, and it just isn't going to help them improve.

"This investment is really positive news for the grassroots game."

Saleh said securing pitches of suitable quality and size for youngsters was a particular problem, as were changing facilities.

"It is so difficult to find pitches," he said. "We almost always end up booking council pitches, and while they do a good job maintaining them we shouldn't have to rely on them.

"It also means that by the time we reach November and December it is almost impossible to get a game in because they are in such a bad state during the winter months.

"We also have parents and children who just won't go in the changing rooms because they are old, damp and cold, it isn't ideal."

While committee members were listening intently to the plans laid out, the youngsters were just keen to get out on the pitches.

"They had a great time and they were really well looked after," said Saleh.

"We were named FA Charter Standard Club of the Year earlier this year which is why we were invited, and it was great to be there."