Local Football Facility Plan Bury

Bury is in the North West Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 188,669. This is expected to rise to 198,966 by 2039.

Bury is ranked 26 out of 39 LAs in the region, and 133 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS)

Bury's ethnic composition is primarily white (89.18%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Bury’s population represented by the BAME community is 10.82%. This is below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

At the time of writing, Bury Council is in the process of producing a new Local Plan for the Borough. This will set out the vision and framework for development for the next 20 years (through to 2040). With a predicted growing population the Local Plan seeks to ensure that important infrastructure is in place to support future need such as new homes, employment, healthcare, transport and leisure; while protecting the Borough's important and valued green spaces and heritage assets.

The Bury Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) was developed in 2018 and adopted in 2019. This highlighted a significant under-supply equivalent to needing eight full size 3G FTPs to meet current and anticipated future demand for affiliated football team training in Bury based on the FA 1: 38 training model. It is recognised that there are a number of sand based AGPs which could be converted to 3G to reduce shortfalls without impacting on current or future ability to cater for community hockey demand. This is subject to agreement with England Hockey.

In relation to grass pitches it is identified that current pitch supply is insufficient with substantial shortfalls evident of adult, youth 11v11, youth 9v9 and mini 5v5 pitch types, though capacity exists on mini 7v7 pitches. It should also be noted that a number of grass pitch sites in the Authority are vulnerable and subject to flooding due to their location on floodplains adjacent to the River Irwell and River Roch. A further point to note is that the majority of teams in Bury either rent, lease or self-manage sites which are owned by the Council. In total 21 currently either hold or are in the process of finalising a self-management agreement. Self-management agreements are significant because they have an impact on club capacity to meet funding body tenure requirements and secure large scale capital grants or external funding.

County football association

Bury 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)

These offer a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). The Bury FC Community Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area. In respect to Bury FC's expulsion from the EFL in September 2019 it has been confirmed that the Club's trust has secured funding for at least the next twelve months and will be operating to the same levels as it did prior to the Club's expulsion.

Local leisure operator

Bury's leisure centre's are operated in house by the council. It currently runs three key sites; Castle Leisure Centre, Radcliffe Leisure Centre, and Ramsbottom Pool and Fitness Centre. Both Castle and Radcliffe leisure centres have sports halls which are used for some affiliated football training and recreational play.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Bury; 28 individuals (representing 22 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Bury Council
• Woodhey School
• Castlebrook School
• Bolton, Bury & District Football League
• Radcliffe Girls & Boys Club

(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. Bury has a total of 434 teams, which is higher than 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 Bury, 13 clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Ramsbottom United Juniors FC - 43 teams
• Walshaw Sports Club Juniors FC - 30 teams
• Radcliffe Borough Juniors FC - 28 teams
• Radcliffe JFC - 25 teams
• Prestwich Marauders FC - 21 teams
• Bury FC Boys & Girls - 20 teams
• Westbury Sports Club FC - 20 teams
• Elton & Walshaw JFC - 18 teams
• Unsworth Junior FC - 18 teams
• FC Bury - 16 teams
• Bury FC - 15 teams
• Bury Amateur AFC - 14 teams
• Prestwich FC - 12 teams

Leagues

Three leagues cater for clubs and teams in Bury. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. While there is no specific league opportunities for disability teams within Bury, the nearest suitable provision (within the Lancashire County FA area) is made in Preston.

Bury’s largest local leagues (2018-19) include:

• North Bury Junior Football League – 402 Teams – home and away / central venue
• Bolton, Bury and District League – 566 teams– home and away / central venue
• Rochdale and District Sunday League – 42 Teams – home and away

The County FA reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Bury primarily due to teams migrating outwards to play the Bolton, Bury and District League & Heywood Mini Soccer 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 Bury there are five 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. Bury has four FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 30, Bury’s number of female teams is comparable to local areas of a similar size. The County FA priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more of them to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league's is within the Bolton, Bury and District Football League & North Bury Junior Football League and matches for both leagues are played on a central venue basis. It is expected to grow provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Women's County League in which matches are played on a home and away basis, it too is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Blackburn Rovers - located in Blackburn. 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 both of which 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 Playfootball, Bury.

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 five futsal teams in Bury play in the Red Rose Futsal League at key site locations including Ladybridge High School (located in Bolton). 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 are currently four FA Just Play centres in Bury. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisations such as Bury FC Community Trust. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes are delivered by a range of organisations including Rammy Men.

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 Bury is played throughout the local area. Openshaw Park, Hoyles Park, Clarence Park, Nuttall Park, Summerseat Park, Close Park and Bolton Road Park are key well-used site locations.

The key strengths of local football in Bury include grassroots league provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, provision gaps do exist; these include futsal and Women & Girls Football. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Bury are:

1. Growth in recreational football with access across the borough at key identified parks and open spaces, community clubs etc.
2. Further opportunities for growth in Futsal including reconfiguration/refurbishment of exisitng facilities, and development of new facilities.
3. Significant investment into full size 3G FTPs and training facilities for clubs, with particular emphasis on the Ramsbottom and Radcliffe areas.
4. Development and investment in grass pitches for clubs and hub sites.
5. Significant development and adaption of existing changing pavilion facilities.

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 Bury. 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, local areas are 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.

There is currently no full sized (11 v 11) 3G FTP in Bury. The 14 small-sided 3G FTPs in the Borough are located at:

• Bury Grammar School (one 9v9)
• Manchester Maccabi Community & Sports Club (one 7v7)
• Philips High School (one 5v5)
• Playfootball/Bury College (eight 5v5)
• Stainton Park (two 5v5)
• Walshaw Sports Club (one 5v5)

Bury is also home to a significant number of full size (11v11) sand based AGPs, these are located at:

• Broad Oak Sports College
• Unsworth Academy (previously called Castlebrook High School)
• Parrenthorn Sports Centre
• Woodhey High School.

All four full size AGPs accommodate a significant amount of affiliated football club training. As mentioned earlier it is recognised in the PPS that that there is some potential to convert some of these to 3G to reduce shortfalls without impacting on current or future ability to cater for community hockey demand.

Futher to this, Bury's PPS identifies a shortfall of eight full-sized 3G FTPs to service affiliated training demand. All of the abovementioned small-sided 3G FTPs are available for community football use. The one at Bury Grammar School is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that it has been quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the other existing 3G FTPs and any future venues developed (full and/or small sided) are assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven; there are provision gaps despite the high level and density of population and significant planned regeneration and housing growth. For the purpose of analysis the PPS identified six analysis areas which align with the six townships use by the Council for strategic planning. They are (with current population):

• Bury East (35,773)
• Bury West (22,106)
• Prestwich (34,724)
• Radcliffe (34,704)
• Ramsbottom, Tottington & North Manor (31, 417)
• Whitefield & Unsworth (29,945)

Full size 3G FTP shortfalls within these analysis areas have been identified within the PPS and adopted for the LFFP process. The current shortfalls for each analysis are: Bury East (two 11v11), Bury West (one 11v11), Prestwich (one 11v11), Radcliffe (two 11v11), Ramsbottom, Tottington & North Manor (two 11v11), Whitefield & Unsworth (no current shortfall).

Local consultation confirms the limited availability and opportunity for affiliated club training on 3G and the recommendations in this plan are designed to address this.

Eight priority projects for potential investment are identified; five full sized site specific projects, one area wide opportunity with an either/or option, and two area wide non site specific opportunities. Sites offer good access, will deliver the required geographic spread and will service areas of high affiliated football demand.

There are currently 16 grass pitch sites in Bury with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 61 grass pitches. Of these pitches, three are considered to be of good quality, 30 are of standard quality pitches, and 28 are of poor quality.

Of the 16 key pitch sites referenced above, ten have been prioritised; this will positively affect the quality of a total of 39 pitches.

Bury Council introduced self–management agreements circa 2000, in order to offer sports clubs greater independence through managing their own facilities. SMAs are akin to a licence agreement, offering clubs long term use of a site for which they are then responsible for all maintenance and upkeep apart from where the Council retains a commitment to basic grass cutting. SMAs offer clubs exclusive access and management but due to the need to retain access as public open space they offer secure access rather than security of tenure. Licenses are generally applicable to sites where public access must continue to be retained without boundary or being obstructed, most often applicable in the case of parks which serve other functions as well as sport. Where a license is in place, this is not sufficient to meet the criteria of most large-scale capital grant funding streams and thus the landowner (the Council in the case of most parks sites) would need to act as the lead applicant in partnership with the site user club or group.

Local consultation confirms the common issues with pitch quality and it is recommended that these are addressed.

Ten priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and ratified by local partners during LFFP consultation. Prioritisation was informed by local partners with the rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition that are, or offer potential to be, best utilised:

Of the 16 key grass pitch sites in Bury with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than 3 pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance) nine have suitable changing rooms, six require improvement/replacement and one has no facilities and requires a new pavilion.

It should be noted that Bury FC Community Trust has an aspiration to expand its current infrastructure (office/storage building) at Goshen Sports Centre, with a view to the development of classroom space for football coaching and community delivery operations. Whilst this does not fit the criteria for LFFPs it is recommended that options are explored via other funding streams and pending determination of the Trust's future following the demise of Bury FC.

Seven 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 no indoor facilities currently require improvement to develop small sided football.

Seven potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. This includes three area wide opportunities for which further research and analysis is required to ascertain where investment is best placed. In each case the rationale is (or will be) based on sites being in an area of substantial population density with limited green space and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

Following local consultation, and assisted by the Sport England green spaces mapping tool no locations have been 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:

• Academy Principle - Unsworth Academy (formerly Castlebrook School)
• Assistant Director (Operations) - Bury Council
• Business Manager (Neighbourhoods - North) - Six Town Housing
• Centre Manager - The Phoenix Youth & Community Centre
• Club Representative- Bury Amateur AFC
• Club Representative- Elton & Walshaw JFC
• Club Representative- FC Bury
• Club Representative- Prestwich Marauders FC
• Club Representative- Radcliffe JFC
• Club Representative- Ramsbottom United JFC
• Club Representative- Seedfield JFC
• Club Representative- Unsworth JFC
• Club Representative- Walshaw Sports Club FC
• Club Representative- Westbury Sports Club FC
• Club Representative- Woodbank Junior FC
• Club Representative - Rammy Men (via survey)
• Community Manager - Bury FC Community Trust
• Engagement Manager - Football Foundation
• Football Development Officer (Bury) - Lancashire Football Association
• Head of Facilities & Investment - Lancashire Football Association
• Head of Wellness Operations - Bury Council
• Headteacher - Broad Oak Sports College
• Headteacher - Woodhey School
• League Secretary - Bolton, Bury & District Football League
• Manager - Radcliffe Girls & Boys Club
• Manager - Victoria Youth & Community Centre
• Principal Sports Development Officer - Bury Council
• Strategic Lead (Education Services) - Bury Council

In addition, the majority of other local clubs, leagues and education providers were consulted as part of the 2018 PPS process; findings from this informed the LFFP.