FOOTBALL pitches and changing facilities at grassroots level in the region are paying the price of years of neglect.

A report on the state of the nation's playing fields reveals 80 per cent suffer from drainage problems or lack of suitable changing facilities.

Britain's largest sports charity, the Football Foundation, which carried out the study, said amateur players across the country face persistent problems with water-logged fields, poor changing accommodation, few facilities for female players, plus a general lack of floodlighting.

Norfolk, Devon, Dorset, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Oxfordshire and Suffolk, scored best marks in the Register of English Football Facilities.

The worst areas were in the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire, Birmingham, Lincolnshire, Manchester and Staffordshire.

The North-East was said to come somewhere in between, with all of the problems highlighted in the national report reflected in the region.

Simon Taylor, of the foundation, said: "We have made grant awards in the North-East, in parts of County Durham, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Gateshead, but its only scratching the surface of the problem.

"Although the North-East is not the best or worst area, even the best isn't that good.

"Some of the money floating its way round in the game must work its way down to the grass roots to address the problems and give people decent facilities, or some will drift away from the game altogether."

Foundation chairman Lord Pendry said: "It was vital, in order to put right years of neglect at the grassroots level of the game, to find out exactly what was out there.

"This survey will now allow us to target money strategically into areas in need of support."

The survey looked at 44,958 pitches, many school or council-owned.