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Football general: Nottingham beats Portsmouth and Manchester to be City of Football
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The three cities were selected by Sport England from 22 bids because of their commitment to promote the sport at grassroots level.
Nottingham will receive £1.6m in National Lottery funding to run a two-year pilot programme.
The city was praised by Sport England for its new ideas for "getting more people playing the national game".
Sport England said Nottingham's focus on a digital platform called 'Playbook', which helps promote football activities in the city, will bring more people to the sport.
Mr Smith said the £1.6m will be spent on a variety of projects including new sporting facilities and the digital service, which would help reach young people via their smart phones.
Nigel Cooke, head of One Nottingham, which promotes the city, said: "We will ... encourage more people to play, especially 14 to 25 year olds, women and girls and people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds."
JB