Local Football Facility Plan Cotswold

Cotswold is located in the Gloucestershire region. The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 87,509. This is expected to rise to 95,948 by 2039.

23.8% of the Cotswold population is within NS SEC classification 6-8 (lower socio-economic groups). This figure is lower than the national average (30.6%)

Cotswold’s ethnic composition is primarily White (97.8%) and this is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Cotswold’s population represented by the BAME community is 2.2%. This is below the national average (14.6%).

Cotswold's is famed within Gloucestershire for offering a non traditional format of football, known locally as Football in the River. On August Bank Holiday each year, residents of the Cotswolds (and further afar) meet at the River Windrush located in Bourton-on-the-Water to watch local club , Bourton Rovers FC play football in the river. The spectacle includes dedicated goalposts, a qualified referee and usually averages a crowd of 2,000 spectators.

Local Authority

Cotswold District Council’s Local Plan commits it to help to create more healthy, sustainable, mixed communities.

The Local Authority has a Playing Pitch Strategy in place which was finalised in 2016. The key findings and stated overarching priorities are to sustain pitch quality across the District and to improve/create changing provision where most needed.

County Football Association

Cotswold is covered by Gloucestershire FA which provides governance and development support to all aspects of local football including coaches, referees, volunteers, clubs and leagues; supporting football for all. Gloucestershire 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 Gloucestershire 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 Club Community Organisations (CCOs)

These continue to expand and enhance their range of community delivery, offering a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). There is no active CCO in the Cotswold's.

Local leisure operator

Everyone Active is the key leisure operator in Cotswold. It currently operates three key sites in the District located in Cirencester, Bourton-on-the-Water and Chipping Campden.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Cotswold. Eight individuals (representing six local organisations) were consulted. These include:

• Cirencester Town Youth FC
• Fairford Town FC
• Gloucestershire Rural Community Council
• Lechlade Village Hall 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. The Cotswolds has a total of 139 teams, which is lower 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 the Cotswolds, four clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2017-18 affiliation data) are:

• Cirencester Town FC - 24 teams
• Fairford & Lechlade Youth FC - 12 teams
• South Cerney Youth FC - 11 teams
• Tetbury Town Youth FC - 11 teams

Nine Gloucestershire FA affiliated leagues operate across Cotswold. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. While there are no specific league opportunities for disability or veterans football within Cotswold, there is however suitable provision provided in nearby Cheltenham.

The Cotswolds largest local league (2017-18) is:

• Cirencester & District League – 11 Gloucestershire FA teams (10 Cotswold Teams)– home and away

Gloucestershire FA reports that there is significant cross boundary migration in Cotswold due to 50 youth teams migrating outwards to the North Wilts Youth Football League in Wiltshire.

It should also be noted that there are a number of Cotswold based teams who participate within University, College and regional based leagues.

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 Cotswold there is one football team / session specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to 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. Cotswold has two FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain this activity.

At three, Cotswold’s number of female teams is lower 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 Gloucester County Girls League and matches are played on a home and away basis. The league is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Gloucestershire Women’s County League and matches are played on a home and away and the league is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Bristol City Women which is located in Filton, South Gloucestershire. 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 Bristol City Women’s 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 & 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:

• Cirencester Town FC at Cirencester Arena
• Inside Football in Brimscombe

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced, small sided team game that is widely played across the world. Typically it’s 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 Futsal is available across the country. It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal in neighbouring local areas.

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 Cotswold. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Everyone Active. Walking football and Just Play are areas that Gloucestershire FA has been prioritised to be sustained.

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 Cotswold is played particularly in the south part of the Borough. Kingshill Sports Complex, and Baunton Lane are key site locations that are heavily used.

The key strengths of local football in Cotswold include Adult, Youth and Mini-soccer provision and recreational playing opportunities. It is recommend that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist, these include Disability provision and Youth Female teams.

It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Cotswold are:

1. Increase the number of Youth & Adult Female teams
2. Increase Disability football provision
3. Sustain & Increase Adult Male 11v11 Football
4. Retain youth and Mini-Soccer participation
5. Retain Small-Sided, Futsal & Recreational playing opportunities

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

Additionally, 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 Cotswold. 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 inline with four investment priorities:

1. 3G FTPs
2. Improved grass pitches
3. Changing room pavilions / clubhouses
4. 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.

FA data states that there is currently one 3G FTP in Cotswold; this is a shortfall of two pitches relative to assessed demand. The existing 3G FTP is located at the Corinium Stadium. In addition to this, there is also a small sided, indoor 3G FTP also located at the Corinium Stadium. The 3G FTP located at the Corinium Stadium is available for community use and is the home of Step 4 football Club, Cirencester FC. The pitch is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning it is quality checked and can be used for football match play).

The geographical spread of existing 3G FTP provision is uneven with the existing pitch located centrally in the Cotswold District. As such, there are identified shortfalls across the District. That being said, given the rural characteristics of Cotswold, it is not considered realistic to deliver full sized 3G FTPs in remaining areas as generated demand for football in most cases is limited and in isolated towns/villages.

Local consultation reveals common issues with low availability and long travel distances and it is recommended that these issues are addressed.

The priority outcomes for these potential sites will focus on girls’ after school clubs, community FA Wildcats Centres, professional club community organisation delivery and local club training.

Two priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Undersupply was calculated using the FA 3G FTP demand and supply model. Each site was selected by local partners based on a rationale of geographical spread, success and quality of existing facilities.

1 - Fairford Town FC - 9v9 3G FTP

• Existing facilities - two adult pitches; changing pavilion.
• Existing users - 2 affiliated teams
• Rationale - participation growth in: junior football, senior football, women’s and girls football, recreational football, disability football and over 50s participation.Midweek use for training from Fairford & Lechlade Youth FC (12 affiliated teams).

2 - Tetbury Memorial Recreation ground - 9v9 3G FTP

• Existing facilities - one adult, three junior pitches; changing pavilion.
• Existing users - 12 affiliated teams
• Rationale - participation growth in: junior football, senior football, women’s and girls football, recreational football, disability football and over 50s participation.

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 standard and 1 in 6 games are 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.

In many local areas the key challenge is to create a sustainable approach to provide good quality football pitches for the long-term. Many 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.

PitchFinder indicates that there are currently seven grass pitch sites in Cotswold with three or more full-size pitch equivalents containing 29 grass pitches. Of these, six are considered to have good quality pitches and the remaining 23 are identified as being standard quality, based on the findings of the 2016 Playing Pitch Strategy.

Local consultation highlights few issues with natural turf grass pitches, with general quality, accessibility and availability generally considered to be good or satisfactory.

Two priority project for potential investment has been identified. Tetbury Memorial Ground has four grass pitch equivalents and although identified as being of a standard quality, accommodates high levels of demand which includes midweek training activity.

Pitches at the Corinium Stadium are of a general good quality, consultation has however identified a need for additional maintenance equipment at the site to sustain pitch quality.

2 - Tetbury Memorial Ground - natural grass pitch improvements

• Existing facilities - one adult, three junior pitches; changing pavilion
• Existing users - 12 affiliated teams
• Rationale - participation growth in: junior football, senior football, women’s and girls football and recreational football.

3 - Cirencester Town Youth - natural grass pitch improvements (maintenance equipment)

• Existing facilities - two adult and four junior pitches
• Existing users - 25 affiliated teams
• Rationale - participation growth in: junior football, senior football, women’s and girls football and recreational football.

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 seven key sites with three or more full-size pitch equivalents in Cotswold's, six have suitable changing room pavilions/clubhouses, one has facilities that need improvement. In addition to the above, a site has been identified as having considerable strategic value for Charlton Rovers Football Club which has recently acquired a 25 year lease agreement on the former Shipton Ollife Cricket Club site.

Two priority projects for potential investment have therefore been identified.

4 - Fairford & Lechlade Youth FC (Horcott Playing Fields) - Refurbish changing pavilion

• Existing facilities - two adult and two junior pitches; changing pavillion
• Existing users - 12 affiliated teams - home of Fairford & Lechlade Youth FC
• Rationale - participation growth in: junior football, senior football, women’s and girls football, recreational football and informal football.

5 - Charlton Rovers FC - Changing pavilion

• Existing facilities - none (site under development)
• Existing users - none. Future home of Charlton Rovers FC
• Rationale - participation growth in: junior football, senior football, women’s and girls football, recreational football, disability football and over 50s participation.

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 & 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 & 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 reveals there are no indoor facilities that require improvement to develop small-sided football. Indoor footballing facilities are provided elsewhere in Gloucestershire including Inside Football in Stroud. Cotswold also has a small indoor 3G FTP at the Corinium Stadium, which accommodates recreational football.

One potential opportunity for a MUGA have been identified. The rationale is based on the site being in an isolated area and corresponding to high local demand for informal football:

6 - Lechlade Memorial Hall - MUGA refurbishment

• Existing facilities - MUGA
• Existing users - high levels of recreational and informal play
• Rationale - participation growth in: Sustain and grow recreational and informal football

Following local consultation, one location has been identified to support small-sided informal football. Here, the rationale is based on highly popular local parks and open green spaces with suitable space / areas to increase informal football:

7 - King George Field - Small sided informal

• Existing facilities - one junior football pitch
• Existing users - high levels of informal football
• Rationale - participation growth in: Sustain and grow informal football

• Secretary - Cirencester Town Youth FC
• Chairman - Fairford Town FC
• Community Manager - Gloucestershire Rural Community Council
• Town Clerk - Tetbury Town Council
• Town Clerk - Stow on the Wold Town Council
• Chairman - Lechlade Village Hall Trust