Local Football Facility Plan East Lindsey

East Lindsey is located in the East Midlands region. The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 139,718. This is expected to rise to 147,200 by 2039.

East Lindsey is ranked 3 out of 40 LAs in the region, and 33 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

East Lindsey’s ethnic composition is primarily white (98.47%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of East Lindsey’s population represented by the BAME community is 1.53%. This is substantially below the national average (14.6%).

Local authority

The East Lindsey Local Plan was formally adopted in 2018. The vision of the Local Plan Open Space, Sport and Recreation policy is to be “a district with a healthy and active population with high levels of public participation in sports and recreational pastimes, both within formal sporting facilities but also on increased levels of open space across the district.”

To meet this vision “the Council will support development that facilitates its aspiration to increase participation in sports and physical activity. The Council will safeguard, expand, enhance and promote access to sports and recreational facilities and open spaces.”

The Authority presently has no PPS in place.

County football association

East Lindsey is covered by Lincolnshire 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.

Active Partnerships

Active Lincolnshire is the Active Partnership for the county of Lincolnshire. Their mission is to get everyone, every day more physically active. They have a remit to support people of all ages and background to improve their health and wellbeing by taking part in regular physical activity supporting Sport England’s Towards an Active Nation strategy.

Professional community club organisations (CCOs)

These offer a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). The Grimsby Town Sports and Education Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

Magna Vitae is the key leisure operator in East Lindsey. It currently runs a number of key sites including:

• London Road Pavilion
• Meridian Leisure Centre
• Station Sports Centre
• Horncastle Pool & Fitness Suite
• Skegness Pool & Fitness Suite

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in East Lindsey. 12 individuals (representing 12 local organisations) were spoken to. Agencies consulted include:

• Louth Old Boys FC
• Louth Town FC
• Horncastle Town FC
• Grimsby Town Sports and Education Trust
• Positive Futures

(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. East Lindsey has a total of 146 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 East Lindsey, four clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2017-18 affiliation data) are:

• Louth Old Boys - 24 teams
• Horncastle Town - 14 teams
• Woodhall Spa – 12 teams
• Skegness Town JFC – 10 teams

Several leagues operate across East Lindsey however only one is specific to the locality; this is the East Lincs Football Combination League which totals 28 teams. It offers competitive opportunities for adult male players.

The largest local leagues operating in East Lindsey (2018-19) include:

• Lincoln Co-Op Mid Lincs Youth League - male and female provision – 398 teams total with 75 teams from East Lindsey– Home and away / central venue / central venue at multiple sites - All
• Boston & District Saturday Football League – 49 teams in total with 13 teams from East Lindsey– Home and away.
• Crofts Estate Agents Youth Football League – 347 teams in total with 17 teams from East Lindsey– Home and away

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 East Lindsey there are two football teams 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. East Lindsey does not presently have any FA Wildcats girls football centres. The priority is to grow this activity.

At five, East Lindsey’s number of female teams 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 from under 12’s upwards is the Lincoln Co-Op Mid Lincs Youth League; its matches are played on a home and away basis. League provision for Under 11’s and below is the Lincolnshire Girls & Goals League. Both are expected to grow provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Lincolnshire Women's County Football League in which matches are played on a home and away. It too is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Doncaster Belles which is located in Doncaster. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads. The nearest Women’s Super League team is Leicester City Women 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. There are no affiliated small sided provision within East Lindsey.

There are currently no futsal teams in East Lindsey. It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal for all players.

Recreational football

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

There is currently no FA Just Play centre in East Lindsey. Affiliated walking football has one affiliated team. Walking football and Just Play are areas that the County FA has prioritised for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include recreational bookings which are delivered by a range of organisations.

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 East Lindsey is played across local parks within the local authority.

The key strengths of local football in East Lindsey include East Lincs Football Combination League, local teams accessing leagues across the county that cater for different formats of the game, this provision needs to be sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist these include FA Just Play centres, small sided opportunity, female provision inclusive of SSE Wildcats and Walking Football

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

1. Just Play centres
2. Small sided opportunity
3. Female football provision – including SSE Wildcats
4. Walking 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 East Lindsey. 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.

There is one existing full-sized (11v11) 3G FTP in East Lindsey at Wainfleet Road Playing Fields (Skegness Town FC).

In addition, there are two small-sided 3G FTPs in East Lindsey:

• Theddlethorpe Playing Fields (36x19m)
• Butlins Skyline Resort (Commercial) (33x28m)

There is no current PPS and, therefore, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38. On the basis that there are 139 teams in East Lindsey, there is a requirement for four full sized 3G FTPs (rounded up from 3.6). Given that there is one full sized 3G FTP in place (at Wainfleet Road) there is a shortfall of three full sized 3G FTPs.

The 3G FTP at Wainfleet Road is available for community use and is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning it is quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is recommended that all future 3G FTPs developed undergo testing and are placed on the Register.

Clearly, given that there is just one at present, there are provision gaps; specifically in Louth, Mablethorpe and Horncastle despite the substantial scale of the settlements and the level of affiliated football; it is recommended that these are addressed. Local consultation reveals common issues with limited availability and the need for people to travel long travel distances to play on 3G. It is recommended that these are addressed.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified. Each was selected based upon a rationale of geographic spread, serving key settlements and catering for affiliated football demand.

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.

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.

There are currently eight grass pitch sites in East Lindsey with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 34 grass pitches. Of these, three are considered to have good quality pitches and five are of standard / poor quality.

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified. Prioritisation was informed by local partners with the rationale of selecting sites in poor condition that are, or have the potential to be, well utilised and that reflect the strategic focus to improve football participation.

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 eight key grass pitch sites in East Lindsey with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but of strategic importance), five have suitable changing rooms, two require improvement/replacement and one has no facilities and requires a new changing room.

In addition to the eight key sites identified above, new changing facilities may be required dependent upon the locations selected for the 3G FTPs proposed for Louth, Horncastle and Mablethorpe.

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified. Prioritisation was informed by local partners based upon the abovementioned rationale of selecting sites deemed to have an unsuitable pavilion which needs to be replaced or refurbished, or sites (grass pitch or 3G) that require new provision to support participation or other facility development:

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 reveals no indoor facilities that require improvement to develop small sided football.

Three potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. They are in close proximity to one another across two settlement areas based upon their capacity to serve areas of relatively high population and deprivation and to support informal and recreational football.

Following local consultation, and assisted by the Sport England green spaces mapping tool, one location has 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:

• Managing Director - Magna Vitae
• Planning Manager - East Lindsey District Council
• Woodhall Spa United FC - Welfare Officer and Manager
• Louth Town FC - Chairman
• Louth Old Boys FC - Chairman
• Horncastle Town FC - Chairman
• Grimsby Town Sports and Education Trust - Community Trust Officer
• Alford Town FC - Secretary, Treasurer & Welfare Officer
• Partnership Manager - The Wolds School Sport Partnership
• Positive Futures - Community Sports Worker
• King Edward V1 School - Headteacher
• Skegness Town Council - Town Clerk