Local Football Facility Plan Bedford

Bedford is in the East region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 169,912. This is expected to rise to 204,115 by 2039.

Bedford is ranked 18 out of 47 LAs in the region, and 154 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Bedford's ethnic composition is primarily white (80.55%). This is lower than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Bedford’s population represented by the BAME community is 19.45%. This is above the national average (14.6%).

Local Authority

Bedford Council’s Corporate Plan 2017–2021 identifies four key goals to ensure the Authority continues to grow over the four year timeframe of the Plan. These are:

• Support people
• Enhance places
• Create wealth
• Empower communities

To enhance places, the Council will ensure that leisure facilities and green spaces are managed properly and all sites encourage positive and inclusive activities for the whole community. The Council Playing Pitch Strategy was produced in 2015 and is currently being reviewed.

County Football Association

Bedford is covered by the Bedfordshire County FA. It provides governance and development support for all aspects of local football including coaches, referees, volunteers, clubs and leagues to support football for all. The County FA has a designated facilities investment lead officer who works to ensure that such facilities are located in the appropriate area of need based on the demand.

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). Luton Town Community Trust deliver weekly Skills Performance Centres for 6 to 12 year olds as well as community sessions during the half-term for young children in the Bedford and Kempston areas.

Local Leisure Operator

Fusion Leisure is the leisure operator in Bedford. It currently operates eight key sites including the John Bunyan Sports and Fitness Centre and Kempston Outdoor Centre. There is no outdoor football provision at these sites, however, consultation indicates that indoor football is popular at the John Bunyan Sports and Fitness Centre.

Bedford Borough Council manages the Wixams 3G pitch. It also manages a number of large grass pitch sites, whereas there are parishes within the Borough who tend to manage the remainder of grass pitch sites.

Local Consultation

This has taken place with a diverse set of community groups in Bedford. 16 individuals (representing 13 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Bedford Borough Council
• A range of football clubs- see appendix for more details

(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. Bedford has a total of 275 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 Bedford, ten clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These are (based upon 2017-18 affiliation data):

• AFC Oakley M&DH - 28 teams
• Atletico Europa- 10 teams
• Bedford Girls - 11 teams.
• Bedford Park Rangers - 11 teams
• Bedford Town FC Youth Development - 20 teams
• Bromham Youth AFC - 22 teams
• Kempston Rovers Colts - 29 teams
• Sharnbrook - 10 teams
• Wixams Wanderers - 15 teams
• Wootton Rangers Youth - 14 teams

Leagues

Teams across Bedford compete in eight leagues. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including female, disability, youth and adults. There is a suitable arrangement for the provision of Women’s football which is delivered via a joint county league; the Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire County Women’s League. It hosts four Bedford teams.

Below presents the number of Bedford clubs competing in the eight leagues (2017-18):

• Bedfordshire FA Girls Football League – 25 out of 78 teams– home and away fixtures with some festivals for U8-U12 age groups throughout the season at central venues on a Saturday morning. Bedfordshire County Football League –-26 out of 64 teams– home and away fixtures on a Saturday afternoon up to and including Step 7 football.
• Bedford & District Sunday Football League– 22 out of 37 teams– home and away fixtures on a Sunday morning.
• Bedfordshire Mini Soccer Football League – 35 out of 127 teams–home and away fixtures on a Sunday morning with festivals for certain age groups throughout the season.
• Bedfordshire Youth Saturday League– 20 out of 100 teams– home and away fixtures on a Saturday morning.
• Chiltern Junior Seven –5 out of 152 teams– home and away- fixtures on a Saturday morning for U12 age groups with festival/grading
  groups taking place for U7-U11.
• Chiltern Youth Football League– 63 out of 209 teams– home and away- fixtures spread across Sunday morning (U11-U13) and afternoons (U14-U18).
• Mid Beds Mini League – 6 out of 52 teams– home and away fixtures on a Saturday morning for U12 age groups with festival/grading groups taking place for U7-U11.

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration into neighbouring counties with teams competing in the following leagues; Milton Keynes & Border Counties Youth League, Eastern Junior Alliance, The TrophyUK.net Royston Crow Youth Football League & Milton Keynes & District Development League. The reasons for this include the close proximity of neighbouring border counties and short travelling distances.

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 Bedford there are five football teams specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to grow and sustain 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. Bedford has nine FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain this activity.

There are 18 female teams in Bedford; which is comparable to local areas of a similar size. 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’ league is the Bedfordshire FA Girls Football League . Matches are played on home and away basis and it is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire County Women’s League.

For talented players, the nearest FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is is Milton Keynes Dons, however Bedfordshire FA’s Advanced Coaching Centre is located at Wixams, Green Lane, Bedford. 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 Arsenal 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. Key local providers include

• Soccer League UK Bedford – Kempston Rovers – Monday & Thursday
• PlayFootball Bedford- Bedford Athletic RFC, Wentworth Drive, Bedford, Monday
• Soccer Sixes – Kempston Rovers- Wednesday

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.

The County has a National League futsal team, Bedford Futsal Club. Currently, 10 futsal teams across the county of Bedfordshire play in the ad-hoc tournaments and one-off events delivered by Bedfordshire FA, the Regional Youth Futsal Series and Bedfordshire Youth Saturday League. These are delivered at key site locations including the University of Bedfordshire and Polhill Campus (which has a purpose made futsal court for youth football). In addition, teams enthusiastic about futsal have set up pockets of activity with training sessions and informal matches across several venues in the County including the John Bunyan Sports & Fitness Centre, Luton 6th Form, Biddenham Upper School.

It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal for male, female, youth and adult 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 are currently five FA Just Play Centres in Bedford . Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Walking Football Bedford (which operate across a number of sites to deliver four weekly sessions including a women’s only session).

The County FA has prioritised walking football and Just Play for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include informal sessions delivered by Fusion Lifestyle in partnership with Bedford Borough Council; these include walking football, futsal and pay and play sessions as part of the 'active adults' offer.

In addition, Bedfordshire FA delivers recreational football and leagues including:

• Bedfordshire Veterans League for 35+ year old players that provide fixtures twice a month on a Sunday evening.
• 11v11 Work Place Cup – 16 teams playing monthly fixtures between April and September on full-size 3G surfaces at Redborne School (4 teams), Cedars Upper School (4 teams), Ashcroft High School (4 teams) & Kempston Rovers (4 teams).
• Teachers League with monthly fixtures ranging from indoor to 3G pitches across 21 schools (5 from Bedford Borough Council, 8 from Central Bedfordshire & 8 from Luton Borough Council)
• 11v11 Veterans League at a central venue on a grass stadium pitch at Wootton Blue Cross with monthly fixtures for the 6 teams.

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 Bedford is played particularly in Bedford town centre. John Bunyan Sports & Fitness Centre, Gordon Fields & Goldington Academy School are popular sites for recreational football.

The key strengths of local football in Bedford include walking football projects and recreational programmes delivered by agencies and the Authority in combination with affiliated leagues.A long-serving committee helps to provide Sunday football and, despite the drop off in Sunday participation provision, it is recommended that this is sustained and encouraged to grow further. Provision gaps and aspects of football provision that compare less favourably with other local authorities of a similar size include mini soccer teams and the number of adult male and disability teams. It is, therefore, recommended that future football development priorities should be:

1. Greater emphasis on mini soccer age groups - to produce new teams.
2. More work supporting youth teams to the point where they gain entry into well-established Saturday and Sunday leagues.
3. A more joined up approach to organisations that do/could provide disability football.
4. Strengthening existing club structures.
5. Transition of the healthy number of girls playing in junior teams into adult football to maintain the number of women’s teams that have recently progressed from U16-U18.

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

Projects that progress 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 Bedford. 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 has been 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 national ‘Mini Pitch’ programme delivers small 3G FTPs at primary school sites to provide a high quality introduction to football and get children more physically active. While mini pitches are reviewed in this section, they are not included in the demand and supply analysis for 3G FTPs.

The full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Bedford are located at:

• Kempston Rovers
• Wixams

There is also one small-sided (60m x 40m FTP) 3G FTP centre in Bedford at Kempston Rovers.

A new 3G FTP is in development at Mark Rutherford School without Football Foundation funding: It has been funded privately and will be managed by a local charity (Bays Sports Facilities CIC). The Charity will manage all bookings and lease the pitch to the School for daytime use. It will support a number of local clubs, including Bedford Park Rangers. Initial discussions have also taken place with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation to deliver social change programmes at the site. It is anticipated the pitch will open in 2020.

The area of Wixams is to benefit from a significant growth of approximately 4,500 new houses. As part of the development, a new leisure centre/school is proposed which will have a full sized 3G FTP. No timescale is currently set in respect of when it will come onstream.

Because the PPS is out of date, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model (1:38).

On the basis that there are 275 teams in Bedford, there is a requirement for 7.5 full sized 3G FTPs. There are currently 2.5 full sized 3G FTPs (including the small sided provision at Kempston Rovers). The current shortfall is, thus, five full sized 3G FTPs. Taking account of the two proposed additional pitches noted above, this leaves a shortfall of three full sized 3G FTPs.

All listed 3G FTPs are available for community use and the full sized pitch at Wixams is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that it has been quality checked and can be used for football match play). The Kempston Rovers' pitches are not on the Register, due to their quality.

The geographic spread of 3G FTPs is uneven; current sites are located in the centre of the Authority (Kempston) and in the south (Wixams). There are specific provision gaps in the north of the Authority around the A6 corridor, despite the high levels of affiliated football played in this area. This needs to be addressed. Local consultation supports this, with clubs such as AFC Oakley (which has 25 teams), restricted to indoor training during the winter months due to the lack of 3G facilities north of Bedford Town Centre.

Two priority projects for potential investment are identified, comprising of three pitches in total. These are broken down into a requirement for two full sized 3G pitches in the north of the Authority, and one full sized pitch in the south. A number of sites were identified for each project, with further work required to identify a specific location.

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, many 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 17 grass pitch sites in Bedford with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 65 grass pitches. Of these, club consultation confirms that 10 are considered to have good quality pitches and seven are of poor quality.

As the PPS is out of date, sites for investment were identified via consultation and confirmed by the Steering Group. It was concluded that the seven sites upon which the grass pitches are considered to be poor are to be taken forward as a priority . This will result in quality improvements to 30 pitches:

Seven priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by clubs and ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites with large numbers of pitches which are in poor condition; thus optimising impact.

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 17 key grass pitch sites in Bedford with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but of strategic importance) seven have suitable changing rooms and 10 require improvement/replacements.

Ten priority projects for potential investment are identified:

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.

There is a requirement for a dedicated indoor football facility in the Authority, which can accommodate national league futsal and recreational football. The steering group's preferred option is to develop a new site, located at a new secondary school, however, no site or development has currently been identified. This is a long term ambition between the County FA and the Local Authority.

Four potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. These are located in the Authority's most deprived wards where recreational facilities are of poor quality or limited and there is an opportunity for Bedford's sports development team to deliver social change programmes in the area.

No locations are presently 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:

• Environmental Development and Viability Officer: Bedford Borough Council:
• Chief Officer, Environment: Bedford Borough Council
• Manager for Sports Development & Leisure : Bedford Borough Council
• Regional Relationship Manager: England Hockey
• Site manager: Bedford Hockey Club
• Club Secretary: Bedford ladies
• Club Secretary Bedford Town FC
• Club Secretary Wootton Rangers Youth
• Club Secretary Kempston Rovers
• Club Secretary Kempston Rovers Girls’ and Ladies
• Club Secretary Wootton Rangers Youth
• Club Secretary Meltis Albion
• Club Secretary AFC Oakley
• Club Secretary Football Club
• Club Secretary Harrold & Carlton FC