Local Football Facility Plan Babergh

Babergh is in the East Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2018 Mid-Year Estimate) is 91,401. This is expected to rise to 99,288 by 2039.

Babergh is ranked 27th out of 45 LAs in the region, and 212nd out of 317 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (97.84%). This is much higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Babergh’s population represented by the BAME community is 2.16%. This is substantially below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The Babergh & Mid Suffolk Leisure, Sport and Physical Activity Strategy (2017 - 2030) has the strategic aim "to support and enable increased levels of sport and physical activity participation across Babergh & Mid Suffolk; to support the improvement of health and well-being within our communities, particularly those from disadvantaged groups".

The local authority has no playing pitch strategy in place.

County football association

Babegh is covered by Suffolk County FA. It provides governance for, and development support to, all aspects of local football including coaches, referees, volunteers, clubs and leagues; supporting football for all. The County FA has a designated facilities investment lead officer who works to ensure the right facilities are located in the right locations.

Football Foundation

The Regional Engagement Manager and Regional Technical Project Manager at the Football Foundation work collaboratively with the County FA to provide pre-application support to priority projects for potential investment.

Sport England

Has a network of planning managers who have a statutory role in the planning system to protect playing fields and provide consultation responses to planning applications relating to sporting facilities . They also play a key role in strategic planning for sports facilities, providing advice and support to local authorities to assess need for facilities in their local area.

Professional community club organisations (CCOs)

These offer a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). The Ipswich Town Community Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area, although it has only recently been established and is looking to expand.

Local leisure operator

Abbeycroft Leisure is the key leisure operator in Babergh. It operates several centres in the District, although at this time, none are considered to be strategic sites for football.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Babergh. 21 individuals (representing 20 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Babergh District Council
• Active Suffolk
• Ipswich Town Community Trust

(See Appendix B for full list of consultees)

Clubs

There are over 91,000 community football teams in England, spread over an expansive network of clubs and leagues. Babergh has a total of 212 teams, which is comparable to local areas of a similar size.

The FA is investing to support clubs both on and off the pitch which includes an aim to have a qualified FA coach with every youth team by 2020/21. In addition, it will support 1,000 clubs to create full player pathways from youth to adult teams and develop 150 community football hubs with male and female pathways, disability and recreational playing opportunities.

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Babergh, six clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2019-20 affiliation data) are:

• Hadleigh United FC – 28 teams
• Cornard Dynamos FC – 27 teams
• Capel Plough FC – 23 teams
• Brantham Athletic FC – 21 teams
• AFC Sudbury – 14 teams
• Holbrook Hornets Youth FC – 11 teams

Leagues

Four leagues cater for clubs and teams in Babergh. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including youth and adults. While there is no specific league opportunity for disability football in the Authority, suitable provision is made via the county-wide catchment of the iCAN Football League, based in Ipswich. Also, while there is also no specific league opportunitt for women, girls’ and veteran players within Babergh, suitable provision is offered via the county-wide catchment of the Suffolk Girls’ and Women’s Football League and the Norfolk & Suffolk Veterans’ League. The key local leagues serving Babergh (2019-20) are:

• Suffolk Youth Football League – 430 teams – home and away
• Ipswich & Suffolk Youth League – 148 teams – home and away
• Essex and Suffolk Border League – 62 teams – home and away
• Sudbury, Haverhill & District Sunday League – 7 teams – home and away

The County FA reports significant cross-boundary migration to/from Babergh primarily due to teams migrating outwards to the Bury & District Sunday League, the Suffolk & Ipswich League and the Ipswich Sunday League.

Disability football

There are 9.4 million people in England with a long-standing limiting disability, illness or condition which equates to 18% of the population – almost one in five. Football playing opportunities should be flexible, inclusive and accessible for everyone, whatever their level of ability. This could entail inclusion in mainstream activity or teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability.

In Babergh there are four football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to grow this provision. For talented players the FA runs regional centres and England national squads.

Women and girls

The FA has big ambitions for the female game and aims to double levels of participation by 2020. To achieve this requires a combined effort across four pathways: education, recreation, competition and talent.

Education environments have a huge impact on the first experience of football for young girls. This pathway can offer many opportunities for females of all ages to develop and grow a lifelong interest in football.

FA Wildcats girls football centres provide the first step on the recreational pathway, the programme provides girls aged 5-11 with regular opportunities to play football in a fun and engaging environment. Babergh has nine FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain this activity.

At 18, Babergh’s number of female teams is higher than comparable local areas. The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ and women’s league is the Suffolk Girls’ and Women’s League n which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA regional talent club (RTC) is Essex County FA Girls Regional Talent Club in Colchester. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads. The most local Women’s Super League team is West Ham Ladies FC which provides player pathway opportunities for gifted and talented female players and a spectator interest for fans.

Small sided football

Many different types of small-sided football are played in England, from teams and leagues to recreational and informal. It is an established and important part of the modern game.

Small-sided teams and leagues are organised and competitive activities; typically, with players registered to clubs and affiliated to leagues and their county FAs. Examples include futsal and local small-sided leagues running at venues such as sports halls, 3G FTPs or small-sided 3G centres. A key local provider is Soccer Sixes at AFC Sudbury.

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced, small sided team game that is widely played across the world. Typically, it is played on an indoor surface with hockey-sized goals and a size 4 football with reduced ball bounce. It is the FA’s aim to ensure that futsal is available across the country.

Currently, no futsal teams in Babergh play in an affiliated League. It is a priority for the County FA to grow futsal for all players.

Recreational football

Recreational football is played where facilities are typically booked and there might be someone to help organise. Examples include FA Just Play sessions, walking football and casual pitch hire for small-sided match play.

There is currently no FA Just Play centre in Babergh. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as local clubs and Abbeycroft Leisure. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include casual bookings delivered by a range of organisations including Abbeycroft Leisure.

Informal football

Informal football is played in local parks and green spaces – it is free, open access and often played spontaneously (normal clothing is worn). Common examples include a kick-about at a local park or on a multi-use games area (MUGA).

Currently, informal football in Babergh is played particularly in the parks and leisure centres of the local authority. AFC Sudbury, Thomas Gainsborough School and Hadleigh Leisure Centre are also key heavily used site locations.

The key strengths of local football in Babergh include disability football, female football and Wildcats provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist, these include recreational football, futsal and informal football provision. It is, therefore, recommended that the future football development priorities for Babergh are to:

1. Develop a network of recreational opportunities
2. Develop a localised futsal offer
3. Retain and increase adult male provision
4. Retain and increase adult female provision
5. Support development of club growth and sustainability

The facilities required to assist this are now set out in the Assets and opportunities section.

In addition, each priority project that progresses to a funding application via the Football Foundation will produce a detailed ‘site development plan’ specifying all football development activity, usage and key partner engagement.

This section reviews existing football facility assets in Babergh. It identifies current issues and presents opportunities for improvements, including a list of priority projects for potential investment. Local assets and opportunities have been reviewed in line with four investment priorities:

• 3G FTPs
• Improved grass pitches
• Changing room pavilions / clubhouses
• Small sided facilities

To ensure a consistent and high quality approach, each local area is reviewed applying a standard approach, supplemented by input from consultation with local partners and stakeholder organisations.

While each investment priority is reviewed individually, it is understood that they can be inter-reliant; account is, thus, taken of these potential connections.

3G FTPs are a high quality and indispensable part of modern football facilities; their impact cannot be underestimated. In recent years the industry has seen major innovations and improvements to artificial surfaces (and sports lighting). This has created playing surfaces that replicate a good standard natural turf pitch whilst significantly increasing levels of use (x20). All FTPs must have sports lighting to achieve this.

The high quality, consistent playing surface is the ideal environment to play the game and for young people to learn. With regular maintenance programmes, FTPs can be heavily used all year round with no decline in quality. They almost completely negate annoying fixture cancellations during winter months, helping football to be a key part of a regular physical activity habit.

High capacity levels offer a great opportunity to embrace all formats and engage all participants. A full-sized 3G caters for an average of 1,200 participants per week and is suitable for various location types. That means being fully inclusive to all sections of the community, with a particular focus on under-represented groups such as women and girls, people with a disability, BAME communities and people from lower socio-economic groups.

The way 3G FTPs are used is rapidly changing; current line-marking systems allow for match play across all formats of football (5v5, 7v7, 9v9 and 11v11). This enables significant levels of match-play to be transferred from grass to 3G.

The two 3G FTPs in Babergh are located at:

• The Kings Marsh Stadium (AFC Sudbury) - full size
• East Bergholt High School - youth 9v9 size pitch

There is no current PPS and, therefore, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38.

On the basis that there are 212 teams in Babergh, there is a requirement for five and a half full size 3G FTPs. There are currently one and a half in the Authority (East Bergholt High School's facility is considered to be half-sized) and there is, as a consequence, a shortfall of four full size 3G FTPs.

Both existing venues are available for community use; however, neither is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are not quality checked and cannot be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that both are assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

There are facilities gaps in the central and eastern areas of the district despite there being substantial settlements. Local consultation confirms common the issues associated with limited 3G availability and long travel distances to play on 3G; it is the purpose of this plan and the projects proposed to rectify these issues.

Four projects for potential investment are identified. Of these, three propose area catchments where a need to develop a full size 3G pitch is clearly identified. Consultation did not result in the identification of definitive specific locations in any of these and several potential options are presented to consider in this respect. It is anticipated that football partners will investigate which location is preferable as plan activation commences.

Capel Plough FC is the fourth project; it was fully agreed that development of a full size 3G pitch at Capel St Marys Playing Field would service the Club and others in the area.

Playing fields are one of the most important resources for sport in England. All football players should have the opportunity to play on good quality grass pitches. However, FA data shows that 63% of pitches in England are poor / low quality and one in six games is cancelled. As such, poor pitch quality is consistently cited as the number one issue for players.

The priority is, therefore, to sustainably improve grass pitch quality across all main pitch owners (local authorities, education establishments and clubs). However, the level of maintenance required to obtain good quality standards is regularly affected by restricted budgets and limited knowledge/ training. Compaction and grass coverage are two key causes of poor quality pitches. Both are commonly treated via a maintenance driven solution (and do not necessarily require costly drainage schemes).

Playing fields are also a valuable resources for informal play and open-access sites are encouraged but, for many, problems such as dog fouling and vandalism mean that they need to be protected with mitigation measures such as fencing.

The key challenge is to create a sustainable approach to provide good quality football pitches for the long term. Most local authorities (78%) intend to increase pitch hire fees in the future. However, the majority of players (63%) believe facilities are already expensive and some (16%) believe prices are prohibitive. A sustainable solution should, therefore, carefully balance pitch quality and affordability.

While the education sector (37%) and local authorities (32%) are still the principal asset owners of grass pitches, clubs / leagues own or maintain an increasing share (currently 25%). Assets and opportunities have been considered across each sector.

Although large (3+ pitch) strategic sites are important and make up much of the project list within the LFFPs, this does not mean that other club, league and community/voluntary sites are not important or eligible for funding. These sites are key to the Football Foundation's Grass Pitch Programme to deliver 20,000 good quality pitches.

For more information click here.

PitchPower

The PitchPower app is the gateway to any grass pitch improvement funding. It is the tool that will allow clubs and organisations to complete pitch inspections and access funds.

If you haven't signed up and completed a PitchPower pitch inspection, you will need to do this before you can apply for the Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund.

Learn more by clicking here.

There are currently 11 grass pitch sites in Babergh with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 32 grass pitches.

Local consultation highlights the poor quality of pitches at certain sites. The recommendations set out below are designed to start to address this issue.

Of the 11 key pitch sites referenced, four are prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to ten pitches:

Four priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites with pitches that are in poor condition and that are, or offer the potential to be, well-utilised.

These can provide a number of different benefits. While the primary function is normally the provision of changing rooms to accommodate match-play and training (for players and officials), there can be equal value in facilities such as community and education rooms, catering facilities and spectator toilets.

Each project will take a progressive approach to pavilions and clubhouses (beyond the provision of changing rooms) and be open to new opportunities to engage the whole community. That means, creating environments that are welcoming to players, spectators, volunteers, officials and all sections of the community.

Such assets should support other investment priorities (e.g. 3G FTPs and grass pitches) and be located at sites that will have the greatest impact on local communities. To ensure this, focus is given to sites with three or more full-size pitch equivalents. However, as pitch quality is the number one priority for players this is prioritised before investment in changing room pavilions /clubhouses.

Clearly, facilities need to be well managed and maintained to keep them in a good state of repair. Consideration will be given to reviewing the best operator solution for key sites and the installation of revenue generating features such as catering facilities and community rooms. To achieve this, business plan support will be given to each priority project as it progresses to an application to the Football Foundation.

Of the 11 key grass pitch sites in Babergh with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) seven have suitable changing rooms (or are not considered to need provision) and four require improvement/replacement.

Four priority projects for potential investment are identified. In each case the rationale is to refurbish (or replace) the existing facility to ensure that each site is serviced by a modern and functional provision.

The project identified at Capel Plough FC has a focus of accommodating demand aligned to the 3G project earlier mentioned in this LFFP, thus ensuring that it has a sufficent number of changing rooms, social space and catering facilities.

For projects identified at Brantham Leisure Centre, Blackhouse Lane Recreation Ground and The Delphi Centre the focus will be to develop projects that meet demand from each site user. Largely, this consists of good quality toilet facilities and social space for players and parents.

Good facilities are important to all small sided football players, but it is important to understand the different formats of the small-sided game and the various facility types they relate to.

Research suggests that small-sided players in teams and leagues, and in recreational sessions, prefer a 3G surface type because it replicates a good standard natural turf pitch. These facilities have already been covered in the 3G FTP section of this LFFP.

Indoor environments currently accommodate 20% of football participation and are also popular with players in teams and leagues and recreational sessions . Indoor sports halls are most popular, along with some community halls and indoor 3G centres. Environments need to be engaging, have clear line-marking and the correct size goalposts.

Informal players require facilities that are open and free to access as this enables play opportunities that are often spontaneous. In these circumstances multi-use games areas (MUGAs) can be effective in areas of high urban population and limited green space. Such facilities can be modern, bright, creative and engaging. While this plan will identify suitable locations for such facilities, the design and specifics of the facility type can be agreed at a later stage with Football Foundation staff when projects are ready to progress to pre-application stage.

Parks and open green spaces are also important to informal play and require goalposts and zones that are free from litter and dog fouling.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no indoor facilities require improvement to develop small sided football.

Four potential opportunities to develop MUGAs are identified. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in a location in which there are limited existing facilities but there is considered to be a high likely local demand for informal football.

Following local consultation, no sites were identified to support small sided informal football.

A range of local agencies and larger (usually 10 plus team) local football clubs were invited to participate in the LFFP consultation. Those that contributed are listed below:

• Strategic Lead for Sport & Physical Activity - Babergh District Council
• Community Grants Officer - Babergh District Council
• Director - Active Suffolk
• Principle Planning Officer - Sport England
• Head of Community - Ipswich Town FC
• Holbrook Hornets FC
• Cornard Dynamos FC
• Brantham Athletic FC
• Hadleigh United FC
• Capel Plough FC
• Chief Executive Officer -Abbeycroft Leisure
• Centre Operational Manager - Inspire Suffolk
• Strategic Lead for Physical Activity - Public Health Suffolk
• Engagement Team - One Life Suffolk
• Chief Executive - Community Action Suffolk
• Lead Provider - Suffolk County Council
• Chief Executive - Action Suffolk
• Development Officer - Suffolk Positive Futures
• Head of Business Operations - Suffolk Mind
• Centre Manager - Befriending Scheme
• Neighbourhood & Partnership Team - Suffolk Constabulary