England go into their World Cup qualifying matches with Kazakhstan and Belarus in confident mood after a Theo Walcott-inspired team hammered Croatia last month. Walcott of course is one of the bright young talents in the game - but how do other young players work their way up from Sunday league games to possibly one day wearing the famous shirt?

Robbie Earle knows the hard work and support networks that players need to get started. He began his playing career at Port Vale before becoming part of Wimbledon's 'Crazy Gang' and has now turned his hand to punditry, in between being awarded an MBE for services to football. Robbie joins our web chat to discuss what England have to do to put the ghosts of previous competitions behind them, and what it takes to make it all the way as a player. As the Football Foundation, in conjunction with Football Stadia Improvement Fund, celebrates funding over £1bn worth of grass roots football projects, Robbie and Paul Thorogood from the Football Foundation will be talking about the vital support such funds can provide - be it new facilities in deprived areas, new kits or community projects. So log in to ask Robbie if he thinks Michael Owen should be in the squad and to find out more about how grass roots football can produce the football stars of the future.

Former footballer Robbie Earle and Paul Thorogood Chief Exec of the Football Foundation joins us live to discuss grass roots football and England's chances in the World Cup qualifiers

The Football Foundation is funded by Premier League, The FA and Government. The FSIF is supported by Premier League and The FA.

For more information please vist: www.footballfoundation.org.uk

H: Host, Charlie Brougham
R: Robbie Earle, Former Footballer
P: Paul Thorogood, Chief Exec, The Football Foundation

H: Hello and welcome to this very special edition of the Sports and Leisure Show, I'm Charlie Broom. Now England goes into the last World Cup qualifier of the year against Belarus tomorrow in control of their qualification group, after being rescued by a stirring second half performance against Kazakhstan at the weekend. Must be in a confident mood as they look to win their first four world cup qualifying games for the first time ever. Well today I'm delighted to say I've been joined in the studio by the former Wimbledon and Jamaican midfield general, Robbie Earle, who amongst his many claims to fame can count on scoring Jamaica's first ever goal in the world cup finals, that was against Croatia in France '98, but also we're joined by the chief executive of the football foundation Paul Thorogood, Paul thank you both for coming to the show. Now before we get to the questions, we have a small video showing a bit about what the Football Foundation is all about
Video footage

H: Now Paul I'm sure that only scratches the surface about what the football foundation does, but it looks like you're doing some amazing work

P: Yes the Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the UK. It's really a partnership between the FA, the Premier League and government. They put £15 million each into the pot, £40 million of that year goes directly into grassroots football, ranging from you know up to a million pounds to support a facilities project with changing rooms, through to third generation grassroots pitches, floodlights etc, right down to kitting out kids with free kit.  230,000 kids we've kitted out over the last 8 years. And as I said a billion pounds has been spent on grassroots football, but there's a long way to go yet

H: That's amazing, isn't it? Well listen, remember, we are live today so if you want to get your questions answered just type it in the little box at the bottom there, click send and we'll do our best to tackle as many as possible, and the first one is from James in Brighton, he says "I work with a team in Brighton. Our changing room facilities are in a bit of a state, and there's no money for redevelopment. Can the Football Foundation help?"

P: Unfortunately that's a problem in a lot of areas and has been for quite some time. Significant over-investment over about 30 / 35 years.  That's why the Football Foundation is there, we will offer up to a million pounds, as long as, you know – we're a shortfall funder so we will expect people to come along, put a partnership together, local authority, local council, perhaps the local club, and then come to us for a million pounds to make up the difference. So we fund anything – you know – projects £2 ½, 3, 4 million.

H: Robbie, how did you get involved?

R: I got involved sitting on one of the panels, the boards that pretty much makes sure Paul and his staff do what they should be doing with the money, and having done that I've got involved with actual – some projects, some communities myself, you know, I was fortunate to have a career and a living out of football, but it's great just to see kids being given the opportunity to play, and if you can get a professional career out of it then that's a bonus, but it's just – I think the ability to get boys, girls, you know – socially excluded, all kinds of different people being able to enjoy the game that we all love

H: The important thing is to stress that it's all about grassroots isn't it, it's not about the top end

P: It's providing, it's providing the opportunity for anybody who wants to play the national game, whether that be able bodies, disabled, under-served communities, Asian, BME, the whole point here is to provide the facilities, the coaching and the wherewithal to make sure grassroots football is you know, the grassroots of the game is nourished

H: Ian's just sent in a question which says – "I manage a small Sunday   league team and we don't have any real funding outside of the parents. Can the Football Foundation help with kit?"

P: Absolutely. As I said there's something called a Junior Kit Scheme. I'm going to give you a website now, footballfoundatio.org.uk. everything about what we do is on there, but they range from providing a brand new kit for a girl's or boy's team or a disabled teams, all they've got to do is fill in a form online, come to us and we'll give you £400 for kit and coaching equipment. There's also a small grant scheme, and it's designed specifically for a quick grant into clubs that want to increase their boys and young people, young team, so you know, we do the million pound project and we also do the very small project to get things moving, small grants

H: I'm sure there'll be people out there that sort of think, you know if you pay money, how do they know the money's actually going into football? You said the sort of criteria people have to meet – once you've given that money over –

P: Yes absolutely, there's only so much around. If £40 million – it's a lot of money, but there's a big problem out there and we've got to make sure that it's going to the right place, so there's a thorough assessment process, a thorough independent check, as I said Robbie sits on one of our independent panels to make sure it's going to the right place but the important thing once we've made the offer, we've got to come in behind it and monitor and value it, and make sure that what they said they were going to do with it, with this money, they'[re actually doing it, and we've got a very effective monitoring evaluation producing all sorts of statistics at the end of the day

H: Well I was going to ask a question, but Jim has actually probably put it more eloquently than I could, "kids on my estate are often getting into trouble, I'd like to get them into football as I think it can be a positive part of their lives. Do you agree?" Robbie let's start with you

R: Yes I totally agree, I mean that's one of the reasons I got involved obviously from the BME ethnic community, Asian football. I think football can address lots of issues, and the youth I think sometimes have a hard time. 28 years ago when I was growing up, we'd play on a street corner till 6 o'clock, 7 o'clock at night. I think kids now, any group of kids collected together in an area are seen as bad kids, hoodies and everybody talks down on them, so I think it's a responsibility of us to give them the kind of facilities and I think when – it's important when we talk about facilities, it's sporting facilities, so that can be – it can be football, rugby, hockey, boxing, anything that's going to, you know get kids back into sport is what's important and that's where the Foundation do their bit and that's why I was pleased to be involved with them

H: I guess it's important to stress, when we say kids it's boys and girls isn't it?

P: Absolutely, and just following on from what Robbie said, it's not just about facilities that we fund, we've got a very, very good community program, and that - the aim is there we unashamedly use the power of football.  Football is an incredible influencer for young people, boys and girls, and we've got projects that deal with obesity, you know there is an obesity time bomb as most people know – by 2050 we'll be spending more than we currently spend on the National Health Service today on issues around obesity, so we've got to tackle that. If we can tackle that in the root cause of projects of football, that'd be great. Anti-social behaviour, crime, just getting kids away from being bored in an evening.  There's a kicks program we fund, £4.7 million. The Metropolitan and other police forces fund that as well, so £12 million, 3 year project, 3 nights a week, 3 hours a week, working with football clubs and the local police, getting kids into football, giving them a positive, you know, giving them a positive role model and a positive time

H: You truly are tapped in to a lot of organising bodies and governing bodies aren't you?

P: Absolutely and it's not just football. The Kicks program I mentioned, it's coaching football but it's also dance. It's anything the kids want to do to be honest with you. Yes we unashamedly use the power of football; people like Robbie are incredibly important to us, you know our DVD has got Rio Ferdinand on it, Owen Hargreaves, Theo Walcott is our junior kit scheme ambassador – fantastic guy that comes in, helps us out and with the kind of exposure that Robbie can give us and other people can give to us, it makes sure we get our message out there. So yes it's football – you can't underestimate or overestimate how powerful football is with young people

R: I think also it's important and Paul's made a point about people in the game, but was it Jim you said who's dropped the email, the last email –

H:Yes

R: People like Jim actually are community role models in some respect. It's people like him who have to be motivated, who have to go out and search for the information, search for funding, and put these things together.  When I was growing up there was parents – it seemed to be the norm that somebody within your street would organise a football – I think people have less time now, we're more busy and more caught up in everything else, and if somebody like Jim has the time and the inclination then places like the Football Foundation are there and will support him and it's great that somebody like Jim can be a role model and provide this opportunity for the kids

H: How long's the Football Foundation been going?

P: Began 2000, so 8 years

H: Ok so still –

P: So a billion pounds in 8 years, so a huge amount of work's been done but there's still a huge amount of work to be done, so yes we're very proud of what we've achieved but we're not complacent

H: Alright well Steph's emailed in saying "my daughter Holly loves football, can't play very well and girl's football isn't encouraged at her school. Where can I get some help finding a club for her?"

P: Well that's a bit of a shame really because football is the fastest growing sport, women's – girl's football is the fastest growing sport in the country. My wife's a school teacher and she's surprised over the last 10, 15 years really how much football for girls has actually increased.  There's nobody questions now a girl's football team – so I'm a bit disappointed, but in order to help, you know go to the Football Foundation website, Football foundation.org.uk, we – one of our unserved areas is girls and women's football. The FA – on the FA's website, getting into football, that can help as well, so you know try and get in touch with us and hopefully we can help

H: Robbie, what about women's football on television –

R: Yes

H: Because it's not really that big is it?

R: It hasn't quite broken through yet. I was interested – Hope Powell whose the women's FA manager, I speak to her on a regular basis, and she's talked about, they've even looked at maybe tweaking the season for the women's game so it doesn't fall directly in contrast to the men's, maybe during the summer months so there'll be some TV time. But we've had the women's world cup, we've had European championships and you know, for all intents and purposes I think people used to feel that women's football was a bit gimmicky, believe me if you go and watch a top level game now, you see some skill and ability that would change some of the guys, and – you know, even in my local area, girl's football is growing hugely and the amount of girls playing on a Saturday and Sunday morning is fantastic, so a little bit disappointed that you know, our caller wasn't able to find somewhere to play, but I'm sure given the right resources there's definitely opportunities out there

H: Yes because it's interesting, 18 months ago the Arsenal ladies won in Europe

R: More than the men, yes

H: But that got hardly any coverage at all and they seemed to be winning the league every season don't they?

R: They won European trophies and the men didn't at that time

H: Well exactly

R: So one for the girls.  Yes the game's definitely grown and I think if we support it and try and publicise it in the right way, you know it's going to get girls out there being more active, and playing some sport

H: Now Paul excuse me we've got Robbie in the studio and I know we can't let him go without asking him at least one question, and believe me there are a lot of questions on here about England but I'll pick one – can Lampard and Gerrard work together in midfield or is Gareth Barry the answer to partner one of them?

R: I don't think so, I believe that Frank and Steve can play together, we're talking about two top class international footballers, two of the best midfield players in the world.  I think we have to find a system that suits them, and whether that's rearranging the way the midfield's set up, I just think that when we see them for club football, they both can win games doing outstanding things. I don't think you can afford to throw that kind of talent away. England haven't got that many great players, and those two can influence the game. So Mr Capello's being paid £6 million I believe to make sure this system works, so let's hope he can do the job

H: Yes it's quite a quest isn't it? But England against Belarus – if they win that, best – they've never won 4 – this so soon after the disappointment of Euro –

R: Yes I think a new man's come in with a new way, I think he's made an impression on the players, talking to one or two of the players, they know what he wants, although the English isn't great, he's got his point of view across. He's created a winning mentality, he's got the players knowing what's required, and I think they'll get better as they get together, the players and the manager. I can't see anything but a win tomorrow night in Belarus, and I think it's a case of once the first goal goes in, England can relax and play a little bit more of their football

H: Now I know the Football Foundation's not about the top end, but have you managed to keep tabs on anybody going through from 8 years ago to see where they are now?

P: Well it's a bit early yet, I mean some of the players that come through, Theo Walcott, Wayne Rooney, basically the exception, they've come through without one of these facilities to be honest with you. And I would say, and you made a point, quite frankly we wouldn't even keep track on it because our whole role is about increasing participation in football, and providing everything that's required for grassroots, for the game to thrive – so yes, I mean as a by-product, the hope is that more people are playing football, provide the coaching on the right facilities. Clearly the cream is going to come to the top, and what we've got to do ,we've got to connect with the professional game and make sure that those really good players that were showing potential, you know ready to go into the academies so they can compete with the Cesc Fabregas's of this world, you know to get into the academies. That's where the – more England players play in the Premier league, and you know that's how we'll resolve that problem

H: Another question, this is from inthenews.co.uk, "Robbie, did you view Joe Kinnear as an old school manager at the time when you were both at Wimbledon, and do you think his – do you think your old boss methods will translate to the modern day game at Newcastle?"

R: Yes I do, I think there's a myth, there's a misconception that Joe's an old school manager, can I just – I'll point you back to when I went to Wimbledon in the very early '90s and was absolutely surprised to see we had nutritionists, a fitness guy, sports scientist, way before many clubs, before Sam Allardyce probably even knew what they were, so I think there's more to Joe Kinnear, he's a cleverer man and he's a more sophisticated football coach than people give credit. He doesn't mind if people think he's old school because he can hide behind that, that façade. He knew exactly what he was doing at the press conference, believe you me –

H: Yes that's my next question

R: He – it was a tact to take the tension from the players, to build a siege mentality and to pull that group of players together because, you know, they were in disarray before that, and I think he's done that, they got a point at Everton and he'll be looking forward to the game against Manchester City at the weekend

H: Paul, we're about to wrap up but just where can people go again to find out all the information they need to get / know about Football Foundation?

P: Footballfoundation.org.uk, everything's on that website. Also through the county FA, the county FA provide a lot of our pre-application advice as well, so yes Footballfoundation.org.uk

H: What's next for Football Foundation, have you got any big things on or is it just general, just try to extend it out as much as possible?

P: Yes we're always developing new ideas, we're also moving forward, but again it's nose to the grindstone in support of grassroots football in this country, and that's what we're really focused on

H: Guess you never know what the following day may throw up?

P: You never know and one thing I would say as well, if there are any corporate out there who are interested in investing in the Football Foundation, it's not just about FA, Premier league, governments you know we delivered a £30 million project called the Barclays Space Sports program which is 200 multi use games areas out there, so –

H: Which has won an award as well hasn't it?

P: Yes that's right, we're an effective delivery mechanism for anybody's money, so as long as it's going towards the grassroots of the game, anybody –

H: There we go, good feel-good factor for you, everyone out there, then Football Foundation is a good place to go to spend your money. Well listen, that's all we have time for, my thanks to Paul and Robbie. Also my thanks to you for joining us and remember if you are a football team organiser, aspiring player, or you know someone who could benefit from some funding, check out footballfoundation.org.uk, thanks for watching, see you soon