Funding

Football Foundation vs Premier League Stadium Fund: Which Funds Your Fence?

Norvale Sport · August 2026 · 8 min read

Two of the biggest funding routes for football facilities are the Football Foundation and the Premier League Stadium Fund, and clubs are frequently unsure which one pays for fencing. Most assume the Foundation, because it is the one they have heard of. For a pitch perimeter barrier that is the wrong answer, and the mistake costs clubs a season. The distinction is not about why you want the fence — it is about which fence you are buying. This guide sets out both routes plainly, including the clubs neither one reaches. For the full detail on applying, see our guide to funding your pitch perimeter fence.

The Distinction That Actually Matters

It is tempting to think of this as one product funded by two bodies depending on your reason for wanting it. That framing is wrong, and it is why clubs apply to the wrong place.

The two funds cover different fences. The Football Foundation funds the fence around the perimeter of your site — the one that keeps people and vehicles out when nobody is there, along with ball-stop fencing and access gates. The Premier League Stadium Fund funds the barrier around your playing area — the one that separates spectators from the pitch and that a ground grading inspector measures.

You could want a pitch perimeter barrier purely for spectator safety with no grading inspection anywhere in sight, and the Foundation still would not fund it. The reason does not change the answer. The product does.

The Two Funds at a Glance

The Premier League Stadium Fund Route

If you need a barrier around your playing area, this is your route. The Fund supports clubs in the National League System with the facility standards their grading demands, and pitch perimeter barriers have their own grant stream with published rates and technical criteria. NLS grading assessments are administered through the Fund's StadiumPower system, which logs your facilities against your division's criteria.

70% is the standard contribution towards a new barrier, with the club funding the remaining 30%. That rises to up to 100% where the club is required to remove or protect an existing solid brick, breeze block or concrete barrier — a situation far more clubs are now in, since the FA's 2026/27 Stadium Accreditation Criteria prohibit those materials at Steps 1–6 and Women's Tiers 3–4. Around 900 clubs are affected.

Each club also has a cumulative ceiling across a rolling five-year period, set by the level it plays at: £400,000 at Step 1, £250,000 at Step 2, £150,000 at Steps 3–4 and £100,000 at Steps 5–6, with equivalent tiers on the women's side. A perimeter barrier sits well inside all of these, but check your headroom if you have already drawn on the Fund for floodlights or a stand.

The Fund names uPVC or galvanised steel as the accepted materials for new barriers, at a minimum 1.83m from the edge of the playing surface, with no gap left between the barrier and the spectator hardstanding. We specify 2,250mm as standard, which is the Step 1 requirement, so a club promoted up the pyramid does not have to move its fence. All setbacks are measured from the edge of the playing surface, not from the painted line. Double mesh is the usual specification where an infilled barrier is required. Our complete guide to FA ground grading explains how the criteria work step by step.

The Football Foundation Route

The Football Foundation is the charity funded by the Premier League, The FA and Sport England to improve grassroots facilities. It is the largest sports charity in the UK and has invested over £800 million since 2000. Its fencing grant is real and useful — it simply covers a different fence.

• Up to 75% of project cost, to a maximum of £25,000
• Covers boundary and security fencing, ball-stop fencing and access gates at non-NLS sites
• Does not cover pitch perimeter barriers, which are on the explicit "cannot fund" list
• Not open to clubs at Steps 1–6 of the NLS or Tiers 1–4 of the Women's Football Pyramid, at all
• Applied for by the Chair, Secretary or Treasurer of the club, whose role is verified
• Requires a marked-up site plan, plus a specification and schedule of works giving total metres, height, construction and the number and size of gates
• One application per season as a rule, so get the detail right first time

If your club is below the National League System and your problem is site security rather than the barrier around the playing area, this is a live and worthwhile route.

Which Route Is Yours?

What Both Applications Need From You

Whichever route applies, the paperwork is broadly the same shape: a marked-up site plan, a full specification giving total metres, barrier height, construction type and material, a gate schedule, an itemised quote, a schedule of works, evidence of tenure, and confirmation of your planning position.

One detail worth getting right in both cases: gate widths are deducted from your total fence run, not added to it, because each gate module occupies part of the perimeter rather than extending it. Overstating your meterage inflates the project cost and invites an assessor to query the whole figure.

We provide the specification, site plan, itemised quote and schedule of works free of charge within 24 hours of an enquiry. That is normally the slowest part of the process. To be clear about our role: we supply the paperwork your application needs — we do not secure funding and have no influence over the decision. If you are not sure how to measure your ground, our measuring guide walks through it, and our 2026 price guide shows what drives the total.

Norvale Sport is a trading name of The Outdoor Look Limited, registered in England and Wales No. 11676614. VAT No. 232 7154 28.