The Premier League's latest Community Report 'A Year of Premier League Creating Chances' shows an astonishing 1.42m people took part in community activities across the 20 clubs last season.

'Creating Chances' last season became the new brand for all the projects and activities that the Premier League delivers in the community.

One of the highlights of last season was the innovative Places for Players scheme which saw an unprecedented 200 players take part in community good cause events to highlight the work clubs do off the pitch.

In addition, almost £13m has been made available to clubs to use for community projects via the new Premier League/Professional Footballers Association Community Fund.

And there has been a special focus on four specific areas of activity with clubs now delivering projects which meet local and national strategies on education, health, social inclusion and tackling inequality.

The Premier League Reading Stars and Kickz projects have also gone from strength to strength working in close conjunction with the National Literacy Trust and the police as well as projects with other partners including The Prince's Trust, the Football Foundation and the Government.

This season will see current projects expanded and developed with other equally innovative schemes being implemented - making it a busy time for Simon Morgan, Head of Community Development at the Premier League.

He is justifiably proud of the vast amount of good work being done across the whole country and the entire social spectrum.

He said: "The range, depth, diversity and quality of what is being delivered is down to the huge investment being put in by the Premier League and the clubs themselves and that can only lead to further expansion.

"The community programme has really taken off in recent years. It has escalated a long way very quickly and is now bigger and better than ever.

"The clubs have put in vast amounts of cash and other resources which have been backed up by a massive commitment from the Premier League which last season redistributed £125m into a wide variety of programmes.

"The number of participants is set to rise dramatically. And it must be remembered these figures are purely for the 20 Premier League clubs."

The Premier League also funds the community schemes for the 72 Football League clubs and they have increased the amounts provided to each club by 400 per cent.

Morgan added: "We are helping out clubs from top to bottom in order to benefit communities right across the country, not just those which happen to be near Premier League clubs. It really is a way of giving something back.

"There is so much that football can do to help people of all ages and backgrounds and it is helping to tackle a wide range of social issues. It can and does make a huge difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people."

Morgan is delighted to be giving something back to the game after a successful career as a defender with Leicester City, most notably Fulham and finally Brighton and Hove Albion.

He spent five years as Head of Community at Fulham before taking up his post at the Premier League in June 2007 and he is thrilled to have a hands-on role in so many worthwhile projects.

He said: "My role is quality assurance and development and inequality and it is very rewarding to see we are making such a difference in so many core areas.

"The Premier League board and shareholders have agreed to invest more money than ever before, reaching more people in a more diverse way and linking directly with key Government agendas.

"Football is a fantastic vehicle to engage people who otherwise might slip through the net in a wide range of areas, particularly health, education, social inclusion and inequality.

"Men's health is very much a key issue for us because it is proven that young men in particular are very reluctant to see a doctor but they are much more likely to see a health trainer if they are based at their local club.

"The aim is for every club to have a resident expert available to the public, primarily men but women could also use the service. The programme would be funded by the Department of Health and it would be designed to offer advice on a wide range of areas.

"Patients might have mental health issues or dietary concerns or want to stop smoking or drinking or might have other concerns. If you put an expert in a football stadium, somehow he seems much more approachable and relevant.

"That is exactly the same philosophy which has worked so well with education over the years. Children are often finding it hard to engage or to learn at school but if you put the classroom in a football stadium, suddenly the work seems much more interesting and relevant.

"Education fits very naturally with football and so many projects can be linked to the game. The club brand brings lessons alive.

"Our Playing for Success (PfS) programme has grown rapidly over the past 10 years with every club now having education centres which are vibrant and exciting places for youngsters to learn - with fantastic results.

"PfS is great for young people who can make up a lot of ground by doing literacy and numeracy work at a football club. And of course the Reading Stars programme encourages youngsters of all ages to pick up a book.

"The Kickz programme is aimed at slightly older teenagers looking for things to do out of school and who otherwise might end up with a life of crime. We now 16,000 young people registered on close to 100 projects across the country.

"It addresses anti-social behaviour by putting on football coaching and other activities three nights a week at times and in areas identified by the police.

"Figures have shown that crime has reduced significantly in those areas at those times and the great thing is that many of the youngsters who have enrolled, have then gone on to become coaches themselves.

"It is great for the younger children to see their friends suddenly wearing the club tracksuit and taking real responsibility. That is an incredible spur for them to stick to the right path.

"Clubs have really embraced these projects and are making coaches and experts available as well as giving the use of their facilities to the local communities.

"They take good cause work very seriously and are rightly very proud of what they do - even though it does not often get highlighted.

"Obviously their main emphasis will always be geared towards what happens on the field but the investment from the Premier League has enabled them to change their philosophy and develop the good work already being done.

"The Premier League/Professional Footballers Association Community Fund has provided £12.9m which clubs can tap into in order to fund specific projects. This money is ring-fenced and can only be used for community work."

Most immediately the focus will again be on the Premier League's innovative 'Players for Players' project. Over the course of the next three months 100 Premier League players will be out in force to promote the work their clubs are doing and help raise awareness of the work that local charities do.

Charities applied over the summer on www.premierleague.com to 'win' a player and also a £4,000 donation from the Premier League and one of the five player appearances at each club will be for that winning charity. Additionally the Premier League and the 20 clubs have identified five charities local to each club who are also receiving a £4,000 donation to raise awareness of the work they do.

To read 'A Year of Premier League Creating Chances' Community Report 2007/08, click here

To view Barclays Premier League events which have already taken place in 2008/09, click here

To see this year's Places for Players winners, click here.