INTRODUCTION
In FY26, we worked closely with the Premier League to demonstrate the value of their investment through storytelling, media moments and engaging with MPs.
We capped off the year by celebrating our 25th anniversary, a milestone moment that drove significant engagement through different pieces of content. This momentum was amplified by the Premier League’s 'More Than A Game' campaign, which spotlighted the Premier League Stadium Fund impact over 25 years throughout.
Our key marketing and communications objectives were:
• Increase attribution to Premier League – grow recognition of Premier League investment and the impact it makes, particularly amongst leagues and clubs.
• Support the Non -League football community – increase awareness of all funding opportunities available and provide applicants with tools and signage to promote their funding.
• Collaborate more closely with the Premier League Public Affairs, Digital, Marketing and Communications teams - capturing relevant content to be used across different channels and ensuring clubs and teams are aware of all funding opportunities available.
FY26 KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
o Celebrated the Premier League Stadium Fund 25th anniversary. Highlights included trophy visits with famous faces, impact stories series, campaign film featuring Peter Drury and a media event at a funded site, covered by Sky Sports News.
o Launched a new Premier League Stadium Fund website and a publicity toolkit so grant recipients can shout about their funding.
o Hit a media reach of over 200m (a 100% increase on last year), providing attribution to the Premier League across national, local and regional broadcast, online and print outlets.
o Ran a paid social campaign for the first time on Football Foundation and Premier League social channels highlighting the 25th anniversary.
o Worked with the Premier League Communications team to create engaging content showcasing investment made by the Premier League on their channels and Football Foundation channels.
o Collaborated more closely with the Premier League to mark their More Than A Game campaign.
o Supported the Premier League with their work with Zellar around the LED Floodlight Fund.
25TH ANNIVERSARY
In February we kicked off our celebrations marking 25 years of the Premier League Stadium Fund.
What we did:
o Launched our refreshed Premier League Stadium Fund website.
o Spotlighted clubs that have benefited from funding since 2000 with an impact stories series on social media and our website.
o Shared a timeline on social channels profiling the history and impact of the Premier League Stadium Fund.
o Created special edition pennants and graphics for clubs to share on their social channels showing how their club has benefitted from funding.
o A new campaign film voiced by Peter Drury and posted as an Instagram collaboration with the Premier League, received 76.8k likes . The Premier League also used the film for their paid social campaign.
o Premier League hosted an event at Uxbridge FC with Rachel Yankey and Tim Sherwood, with media coverage from Sky Sports News.
o Ran a paid social campaign, reaching over 296k with over 530k impressions.
25th ANNIVERSARY HERO FILM
MORE THAN A GAME
o Worked closely with the Premier League on various multi -channel activations as part of their More Than A Game campaign in March.
o Helped facilitate and create content for communications -led activity featuring ex -pros visiting clubs that have benefited from funding, including Tim Sherwood and Rachel Yankey's visit to Uxbridge FC which was featured on Sky Sports News.
o Content creator StillRyan visited Wythenshawe FC to capture the impact of the Fund, as well as The Mary Earps Pitch to showcase the Premier League's investment in wider football through the Football Foundation.
o Football Magazine Mundial joined us at Margate FC, Wythenshawe FC and Haywards Heath Town FC to produce articles and social content celebrating 25 years of the Fund and highlighting the difference investment has made to these clubs.
o Celebrated Non -League day with content creators Location Football at Haywards Heath Town FC, as well as Bobby Zamora and Glenn Murray.
o Marked Non -League Day with a takeover and front page spread of the Non -League Paper.
SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
We’ve worked closely with the Premier League team to create a range of content and provide stats, bringing to life the impact of the Premier League Stadium Fund and supporting the Premier League More Than A Game campaign.
We also ran a paid social campaign to coincide with the Premier League's More Than A Game campaign in over two weeks in March, which garnered 532k impressions and a reach of 296k.
WEBSITE ENGAGEMENT
Since last season, we’ve increased total page views by 4.9%, driving more users to than ever to the Premier League Stadium Fund website.
47.3k 27k 500k
Total page views
Total sessions Impressions
Impressions is the total number of times this content was seen.
Media articles
200m
Media reach
SIGNAGE
We continued to provide sites who received support from the Premier League Stadium Fund with signage.
Looking ahead to FY27
We’re excited to build on the successes of FY26 and to continue working with the Premier League Public Affairs, Marketing and Communications team to increase the awareness and understanding of the Premier League Stadium Fund and their investment. Here’s what we’ll be up to:
• Continue the celebration of the Premier League Stadium Fund 25 th anniversary and new strategy.
• Create applicant guidance to better support applicants applying for grants.
• Continue to proactively support Premier League Stadium Fund grants with external comms.
• Continue engaging with MPs to demonstrate the impact of Premier League investment on football.
• Support with the launch of new funds.
• Continue working with the Premier League team to create more engaging content for ours and the Premier League’s social media channels.
• Continue roll out of signage to Premier League Stadium Fund sites.
