As the countdown to Euro 2028 begins, England finds itself at a crossroads—poised to host one of European football’s grandest spectacles, yet grappling with a crisis at the very roots of the game. While the nation celebrates the honor of co-hosting the tournament alongside Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland, campaigners and grassroots advocates are sounding the alarm: the state of community football in England is threatening to undermine the country’s footballing future, despite high-profile pledges of investment.
Euro 2028 will run from June 9 to July 9, with matches spread across nine iconic stadiums. Wembley Stadium in London is set to host the semi-finals and final, while the opening match will take place at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. Other English venues include the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Aston Villa’s ground, Manchester City’s City of Manchester Stadium, Newcastle’s St James’ Park, and Everton’s much-anticipated Bramley-Moore Dock stadium. Hampden Park in Glasgow and the Dublin Arena in Ireland round out the lineup, ensuring a festival of football across the British Isles.
But behind the scenes, the beautiful game is facing a less glamorous reality. Despite the Premier League’s global status and staggering £7 billion in annual revenues, the grassroots game is under severe strain. Critics argue that underinvestment and a focus on rigid, results-driven youth systems are stifling the development of England’s next generation of stars. Ernie Brennan, chief executive of the Children’s Football Alliance, minced no words: “The system is simply not fit for purpose. The money is not reaching thousands of groups and teams who don’t adhere to the ‘win at all costs’ model of association football.” He continued, “What we have built is a ‘Premier League’ for tots that does not serve the game or ultimately provide the sort of players we need. We have a very manufactured and pressured model and actually it doesn’t allow the cream to the rise to the top as it should.”
One of the most pressing issues is the chronic shortage of quality playing surfaces. The Football Foundation, a charity that channels funding from the government, the Premier League, and the Football Association into grassroots facilities, has invested more than £1 billion since 2000. Yet, it admits there are “shortfalls” in the provision of community pitches and all-weather surfaces. The numbers are stark: England needs 2,000 more all-weather pitches to meet soaring demand, especially from female players. Compared to Germany, which boasts more than double the number of advanced “3G” pitches, England finds itself with more than twice as many players per pitch as Germany, Norway, Finland, and Scotland.
This shortage is having a real impact on participation. According to research published in July 2026, 97% of coaches at grassroots female football clubs say their teams need more funding. Among more than 2,000 female footballers surveyed, a quarter revealed they had missed games simply because they couldn’t afford access to a pitch. Another study found that a staggering 96% of local authorities in England don’t have enough all-weather pitches to meet demand. The Football Foundation’s own statement to the Media, Culture and Sport Select Committee summed up the challenge: “The brilliant growth in demand for the game, particularly among women and girls, is outpacing our ability to supply the necessary facilities, leading to the… shortfall in community sports facilities across England.”
Despite these challenges, substantial sums are being invested. The Football Foundation has spent £1.3 billion over the past 25 years, providing 1,200 all-weather pitches, 14,000 grass pitches, and 1,500 changing rooms. Its annual funding includes about £40 million each from the Premier League and the FA, with the government contributing an additional £68 million in 2026. The government’s broader £400 million plan for local sports includes £98 million spent this year on 991 projects, from a new all-weather pitch in Essex to a multi-sports facility in Belfast, with a further £86 million earmarked for 2027.
But for many campaigners, these numbers, while impressive, don’t tell the whole story. Save Grassroots Football, a Liverpool-based advocacy group, pointed to England’s recent World Cup semi-final defeat as a symptom of deeper problems: “You don’t need to look very far for one of the reasons to England’s failure once again at a big tournament—a lack of investment into grassroots football for many, many years is one of them. Where does everyone think Kane, Bellingham all started off? [It was] grassroots football.”
The bottleneck isn’t just about pitches. Nearly 12 million people in England play football regularly, including over 3 million children. But there’s a growing shortage of volunteer coaches, referees, and club staff. Paul Coltman, a grassroots football consultant, put it bluntly: “We have a growing population that wants to play more football. But the problem is we have a bottleneck in terms of facilities, volunteer coaches and even match officials to meet demand. We already have waiting lists and if we don’t have the facilities for people to play, there will be fewer teams and even longer waiting lists. And it will be the grassiest of grassroots football teams and clubs that play on your village greens and city parks that suffer. They will be the teams that won’t exist in 10 years because they won’t have the volunteers, the facilities will be housing estates and there’s nowhere else for them to play.”
The government insists it is committed to ensuring everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport stated, “This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That means delivering a range of facilities, including football, across the country based on what each local community needs. Our funding is open to a wide range of applicants including local authorities, schools and charities and is certainly not limited to FA-affiliated football clubs.”
Meanwhile, preparations for Euro 2028 continue at pace. The tournament will feature 24 nations divided into six groups of four, with the top two in each group and the four best third-placed teams advancing to the knockout stages. Hosts England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland will all go through qualification, rather than receiving automatic entry, in a bid to keep their squads sharp. The Football Association has promised affordable ticketing, with around three million tickets available and half of them in lower-priced categories, roughly £40 each. Mark Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive, assured fans: “There won’t be any dynamic ticket pricing. I think that’s really well established. There is a model that we’re really comfortable with.”
For England, the journey will begin at Manchester City’s stadium on June 10, 2028, with other group matches at Wembley and a potential last-16 clash in Newcastle or Liverpool. The quarter-finals will be spread across all four host nations, promising a true festival of football for local fans.
As the nation looks ahead to Euro 2028, the excitement is palpable—but so is the challenge. Will the promised investment and renewed focus on grassroots football bear fruit in time to inspire the next generation of stars? For now, the action continues both on the pitch and behind the scenes, as England prepares to showcase its passion for football to the world—while fighting to secure its future from the ground up.