The Football Foundation

Following our continued involvement in delivering ground investigations for The Football Foundation, we are thrilled to support them in 2024, delivering geotechnical consultancy and site investigation services on their new PlayZone framework across England. This adds to our current involvement with the Artificial Grass Pitch (AGP) framework, and we are delighted to continue to grow our long standing relationship.

The Football Foundation is a charitable organisation supporting the Premier League, The FA and Government to deliver outstanding grassroots sports facilities and transforming local communities.

The new PlayZone scheme, has been set up to provide safe, inclusive, and accessible outdoor sports pitch facilities that bring communities together through recreational football and sport. Sites are targeted within communities with the greatest need to deliver new or refurbished spaces that enable priority groups to be more active.

Assessing potential ground risk at the sites is one of the first steps to determining viability of a PlayZone development. We initially assess each site through a desk-based approach, prior to carrying out intrusive site investigations. By critically assessing each site, we can recommend and carry out the most cost-effective method of investigation whilst still obtaining information sufficient to inform detailed design by the independent contractor. Accordingly, investigations can range from a few simple hand pits to deep boreholes.  

Appropriate investigation is critical to allowing projects to be de-risked as far as possible in the early stages of design, allowing contractors to accurately tender construction works and deliver projects on time and on budget.