Local Football Facility Plan Blackburn with Darwen

Blackburn with Darwen is in the North West Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 148,942. This is expected to fall to 146,232 by 2039.

Blackburn with Darwen is ranked 6 out of 39 LAs in the region, and 23 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Blackburn with Darwin's ethnic composition is primarily white (70%). This is significantly lower than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Blackburn with Darwen’s population represented by the BAME community is 30%. This is double the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The vision set out in the Blackburn with Darwen Council Corporate Plan (2019 - 2023) is to enable all residents to achieve a good quality of life in a vibrant and thriving place, with strong community values and an inclusive society. This vision will be achieved via delivery of four themed objectives:

• People: A good quality of life for all residents
• Place: Community pride in a vibrant place to live and visit
• Economy: A strong and inclusive economy with continued growth
• Council: Delivered by a strong and resilient council

To ensure a good quality of life for all residents, the Council is committed to providing good access to quality sporting and leisure facilities across the Borough.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was produced in 2013, and is therefore out of date. It has recently commissioned a new PPS, as a joint strategy with Hyndburn Borough Council. This is expected to be completed in late spring 2020.

County football association

Blackburn with Darwen is covered by the Lancashire 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)

Blackburn Rovers in the Community runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area. Specific programmes include; community walking groups, social inclusion programmes, PL Kicks sessions and various others.

Local leisure operator

The Authority manages all strategic leisure facilities within the Borough, these include Blackburn Leisure Centre, Darwen Leisure Centre and Witton Park Arena at which two new full-sized floodlit 3G FTPs have just been unveiled.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Blackburn with Darwen. 19 individuals (representing 18 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Blackburn with Darwen Council
• Blackburn Rovers Community Trust
• Lancashire County FA

(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. Blackburn with Darwen has a total of 354 teams, which is higher than local areas of a comparable size such as Preston and Blackpool.

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 Blackburn with Darwen, nine clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Mill Hill Juniors - 55 teams
• Blackburn Rovers Community Trust - 31 teams
• Feniscowles and Pleasington JFC - 21 teams
• Blackburn Eagles - 20 teams
• Lammack Juniors - 19 teams
• Darwen Rangers - 18 teams
• Blackburn United - 14 teams
• AFC Darwen - 11 teams

Leagues

Several leagues cater for clubs and teams in Blackburn with Darwen. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including mini, youth boys and girls and men's adult football. While there is no specific league opportunity for disability football within Blackburn with Darwen, suitable provision is made in neighbouring Preston via the Lancashire FA Ability Counts League. Specific provision for adult ladies football is made via the Lancashire FA Women’s County League which provides entry level grassroots provision while regional football is played in the North West Women’s Regional League. The largest of the local leagues serving the area (2018-19) include:

• East Lancashire Football Alliance – 445 teams – home and away and central venue at multiple sites.
• Accrington and District JFL – 207 teams – home and away fixtures
• North Valley and Burnley Unity Leagues – 85 teams – home and away fixtures.

The County FA reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Blackburn with Darwen due to teams playing in the East Lancashire Football Alliance, North Valley and Burnley Unity League, all of which include member clubs from several local authority areas.

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 Blackburn with Darwen there are three football sessions run specifically for people with a disability through AHF FC, Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, Mill Hill and Blackburn College. 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. Blackburn with Darwen has five FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 30, the number of female teams in Blackburn with Darwen is higher than 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 North Valley and Burnley Unity League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Lancashire FA Women’s County League in which matches are played on a home and away basis; it too is expected to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Blackburn Rovers. 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 teams are Manchester City FC and Manchester United FC, with Blackburn Rovers FC also competing in the FA Women’s Championship. Collectively, these clubs provide 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:

• Power League, Blackburn
• Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, Top O’The Croft

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.

There are currently seven futsal teams in Blackburn with Darwen that play in various leagues at key site locations including Blackburn College. It is a priority for the County FA to grow futsal for all 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 nine FA Just Play centres in Blackburn with Darwen. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Blokes United and Blackburn Rovers Community Trust. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development.

The key strengths of local football in Blackburn with Darwen include youth and mini soccer league provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist and there are aspects of football provision that are more evident that in than local authorities of a similar size. These include futsal, flexible formats of football and ladies provision. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Blackburn with Darwen are:

1. Deliver key strategic 3G hub facilities for the Authority.
2. Develop and deliver a pitch improvement programme for the Authority's large scale sites and those now managed by clubs and central venues
3. Reconfigure changing pavilions to provide flexible spaces, meet the demand of youth football and ensure compliance for adult 11v11 football.
4. Engage clubs and community organisations, to develop small sided, futsal and recreational football.

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

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 Blackburn with Darwen. 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 investment priorities are 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 full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Blackburn with Darwen are located at:

• AFC Darwen
• St Bedes R C High School
• Darwen Aldridge Community Academy
• Our Lady And St John Catholic Arts College
• Witton Country Park (x2).

There are also small sided 3G FTPs located at:

• Power League Blackburn (x7)
• Blackburn Youth Zone
• Darwen Vale School.

Given the absence of a current PPS for Blackburn with Darwen, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38.

On the basis that there are 354 teams in the Borough, there is a requirement for nine full sized 3G FTPs. There are currently six and there is, thus, a shortfall of three. As the Council is currently producing its new PPS, it was agreed that this will help determine more suitable locations for future 3G FTP delivery within the area. Therefore, one project for an AGP sand-based pitch conversion has been specifically noted while two locations will be identified in the upcoming PPS.

In addition to the shortfall of full sized 3G FTPs, two require surface replacement (those at St Bedes RC High School and Darwen Aldridge Community Academy). Two projects for small sided 3G FTP projects were also identified to help benefit both affiliated and recreational football. These are located at Ewood Park (aligned to Blackburn Rovers Community Trust) and St Wilfreds School which will be the conversion of an existing 7v7 AGP.

All 3G FTPs are available for community use and all full size 3G FTP provision is on the FA Register (meaning that each is quality checked and can be used for football match play).

The geographic spread of existing facilities is broadly even relative to population levels and existing demand. This said, it is noted that there is a shortfall of 3G FTPs in the north area of the Borough.

Local consultation confirms common issues related to facility hire costs and currently limited availability. It is the purpose of this plan to enable alleviation of these key issues .

Six priority projects (totalling seven 3G FTPs) for potential investment are, thus, identified. They will improve facility access, serve areas of significant population and cater for high proportions of people from lower social economic groups:

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 ten grass pitch sites in Blackburn with Darwen with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 47 grass pitches.

Local consultation confirms the common issue of poor pitch quality and it is recommended that this is addressed directly by improving the sites identified in this plan.

Of the ten key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that five should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to 19 pitches:

Five priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by local partners and prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites that were, or offer the potential to be best-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 ten key grass pitch sites in Blackburn with Darwen with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) six have suitable changing rooms, two sites require improvement/replacement and two have no facilities and require a new pavilion.

Further to this, AFC Darwen has recently developed an on site stadia 3G FTP. The existing clubhouse is identified as being out of date and in need of modernisation to accommodate the higher levels of demand it will accommodate (due to anticipated usage on the 3G FTP). It has, therefore, been included as a potential project.

Five 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.

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

Three potential MUGA options have been identified (across two sites). In each case the rationale is based on the site being able to service an area of high urban population with relatively high proportions of people from lower social economic groups and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

At this point no potential projects to improve existing parks and open spaces, other than the identified MUGA opportunities, have been identified.

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:

• Club secretary - Mill Hill Juniors FC
• Club Secretary - Darwen Rangers FC
• Club Secretary - Old Boltonians FC
• Club Secretary - AFC Darwen
• Club Secretary - Blackburn Eagles FC
• Club Secretary - Feniscowles & Pleasington JFC
• Club Secretary - Darwen Girls & Ladies FC
• Club Secretary - Blackburn United FC
• Club Secretary - Turton Tigers FC
• Chief Executive Officer - Blackburn Rovers Community Trust
• Manager - Shadsworth Community Hub
• Manager - Audley Sports Centre
• Manager - Greenfield Community Centre
• League Secretary - East Lancashire Football Alliance
• Head of PE - St Bedes RC High School
• Head of Facilities & Investment - Lancashire County FA
• Engagement Officer - Football Foundation
• Leisure Facilities Manager - Blackburn with Darwen Council
• Head of Services - Blackburn with Darwen Council