The maintenance fund, plainly

What the fund is

The Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund is a Football Foundation grant programme aimed at the maintenance of natural-grass pitches at grassroots level — the mowing, feeding, aeration and renovation work described across this site’s grounds guides, done to a plan rather than in emergencies. A companion programme covers grass-pitch maintenance machinery and equipment; both are administered entirely by the Foundation.

What it supports, in broad strokes

In the captured material, the fund is directed at improving and sustaining pitch quality: programmes of maintenance work on natural grass, informed by an assessment of what each pitch actually needs. The machinery programme supports the equipment side of the same goal. What this page deliberately does not list is amounts, percentages, eligibility rules or deadlines — those are exactly the details that change, and repeating them here would eventually mislead someone. The current versions are one click away on the Foundation’s pages, linked in the docket beside this article.

Where PitchPower fits

Funding conversations generally start from evidence of pitch condition, and the Foundation’s assessment route for that is PitchPower. An assessment produces a report on the pitch’s state and needs — the natural companion to a maintenance funding application. Preparing for one is covered in this site’s PitchPower walkthrough.

How a club prepares, whatever the current rules say

• Keep a dated record of maintenance done and problems observed — the log builder produces one.
• Know your costs with your own figures — the cost planner totals what you enter, nothing invented.
• Understand what a year of proper maintenance involves — the calendar is the map.
• Then read the current criteria on the Foundation’s page and check them against your club’s situation — tenure, organisation type and pitch details are typical of the questions asked.