Flutter takes the Best Grassroots initiative award for women’s football

(AsiaGameHub) –   Flutter Entertainment’s Cash4Clubs programme has been honoured as the leading grassroots initiative advancing women’s football across Britain.

By channelling direct funding to 86 women’s grassroots football projects, Cash4Clubs took the Best Grassroots Initiative title at the 2026 Women’s Football Awards.

Cash4Clubs began in 2008 as Betfair’s first CSR programme, created to strengthen community ties to football and broaden access to Britain’s most popular sports for everyone.

The scheme offers grants of £2,000 to local community clubs and organisations, and since its launch Cash4Clubs has contributed over £7 million to grassroots sport throughout the UK and Ireland.

Delivered alongside UK charity Sported, the 2025/26 Cash4Clubs programme drew applications from almost 1,500 organisations and charities, with grants set to support more than 50,000 people across over 40 sports in the UK and Ireland.

Funding has enabled clubs to upgrade facilities, buy equipment, back coaching programmes and widen access to sport in local communities, including female-founded clubs such as Chorley Women FC, Alway FC, Brighton Seagals FC and St James Swifts Ladies FC, chosen as partners by Sported.

The London award ceremony featured an opening address from Prince William marking the ongoing growth of women’s football, while Gabby Logan and Jamie Carragher presented the prize.

Flutter’s award was accepted by the media and public relations team of Rachael Kane, Camilla Toogood and Steve Hawks.

Carragher highlighted the initiative’s enduring influence in local communities, saying:

“Through their contributions to sport at a grassroots level, Flutter’s Cash4Clubs programme earned the Best Grassroots Initiative award because it has delivered transformational change for hundreds of grassroots sports groups and thousands of individuals in local communities, providing safe, inclusive and accessible opportunities for women and girls to take part in sport while addressing barriers linked to poverty, inequality, confidence and belonging.”

The programme sits within Flutter’s wider community investment strategy aligned to its goal of positively impacting 10 million people by 2030.

Flutter UK CEO, Kevin Harrington, said: “Cash4Clubs is central to our pledge to touch the lives of 10 million people in the communities where we operate by 2030.

“Community clubs are the foundation of sport in the UK and Ireland. Many run on tight budgets, yet they generate remarkable impact for their members and the wider community. Without backing from programmes such as Cash4Clubs, many of these essential local institutions would struggle to continue.

“We are proud to play our role and grateful to be recognised at the Women’s Football Awards.”