Nottingham beat off Manchester and Portsmouth to be named Sport England's City of Football

Nottingham will now stage a £1.6m two-year project to test methods of increasing football participation

Nottingham Forest staff and substitutes celebrate Britt Assombalonga's goal against Derby (Getty Images)

Nottingham has beaten off Manchester and Portsmouth to win the right to stage a £1.6million two-year pilot project aimed at testing ways of getting more people playing football regularly.

The Football Association had £1.6million of public funding for the amateur game cut by Sport England in March after failing to reverse a decline in participation - last year there were 1.84million people playing football regularly, a fall of 100,000 since April 2013.

In a new funding initiative, Nottingham has been named as Sport England's City of Football, beating Manchester and Portsmouth.

A statement from Sport England said Nottingham clinched their bid "by mobilising an impressive group of private, public and voluntary sector partners from both inside and outside the traditional football family, to do whatever it takes to get more people - particularly those aged 14-25 years - playing all kinds of football regularly."

Notts County players celebrate a goal against Liverpool in the 2013-14 League Cup (Getty Images)

One key element is a digital platform - 'Playbook' - which will help people planning football activities in Nottingham being able target a sector of the population with relevant offers.

Nigel Cooke, head of One Nottingham, said: "Over the next two years, we will create new football partnerships; develop new technologies; encourage more people to play, especially 14 to 25 year olds, women and girls and people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds; and share our learning so that the rest of England can benefit from our insight."

PA