Local Football Facility Plan East Northamptonshire

East Northamptonshire is in the East Midlands Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 93,906. This is expected to rise to 104,936 by 2039.

East Northamptonshire is ranked 25th out of 40 LAs in the region, and 220th out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

East Northamptonshire's ethnic composition is primarily white (97%). This is significantly above the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of the East Northamptonshire population represented by the BAME community is 3%. This is significantly below to the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

East Northamptonshire Council has a Healthy and Active Lifestyles Strategy. Its vision is 'to build a healthier and more active community through increased participation in sport, physical activity and active recreation'

In respect of planning, the strategy notes that 'Our planning policies will be designed to ensure adequate leisure provision is provided to those in our district. It is essential that we negotiate with developers at the planning stage to ensure that they consider leisure facilities and make a contribution to their provision to assist in making their development attractive to new residents'

Its Playing Pitch Strategy was adopted in 2016 and is therefore close to being out of date. According to the needs assessment conducted as part of the strategy development process, there is a shortfall of adult, youth (11v11) and youth (9v9) pitches alongside spare capacity on mini (7v7) and (5v5) pitches. The PPS suggests that in order to satisfy training demand, there is a need for at least two full size community available full size 3G FTPs.

County football association

East Northamptonshire is covered by the Northamptonshire 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 Northampton Town FC community trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities in the local area.

Local leisure operator

Freedom Leisure is the key leisure operator in East Northamptonshire. It currently runs leisure centres in Rushden and Thrapston.

Local consultation

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

• AFC Rushden & Diamonds
• Higham Town FC
• Oundle Town FC
• Oundle School

(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 Northamptonshire has a total of 115 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 Northamptonshire, five clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2019-20 affiliation data) are:

• AFC Rushden & Diamonds – 31 teams
• Thrapston Town Juniors – 19 teams
• Higham Town – 18 teams
• Oundle Town – 15 teams
• Raunds Town & Youth – 11 teams

Leagues

Nine leagues cater for clubs and teams in East Northamptonshire. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including mini soccer, youth male, youth female, adult male and adult female. They (2019-20) include:

• Weetabix Youth Football League - 340 teams – central venue & home/away
• Northants Senior Youth League – 17 teams – home and away
• Northamptonshire Combination League (step 7) – 63 teams – home and away
• Northamptonshire Sunday Combination veterans – 18 teams – home and away
• Rushden & District Sunday Football League – 11 teams – home and away
• Nene Sunday League – 53 teams – home and away
• United Counties League (step 5/6)
• Northamptonshire Women & Girls League – 81 teams – home and away
• East Midlands Women’s Regional Football League

The County FA reports cross-boundary migration to/from East Northamptonshire due to teams playing at Wellingborough Old Grammarians and North Park (Kettering) at mini soccer age (U7 – U10) in the Weetabix Youth Football League’s central venue.

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 Northamptonshire there are no football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to grow and sustain this provision. For talented players the FA runs regional centres and England national squads.

Women and girls

The FA has big ambitions for the female game and aims to double levels of participation by 2020. To achieve this requires a combined effort across four pathways: education, recreation, competition and talent.

Education environments have a huge impact on the first experience of football for young girls. This pathway can offer many opportunities for females of all ages to develop and grow a lifelong interest in football.

FA Wildcats girls’ football centres provide the first step on the recreational pathway. The programme provides girls aged 5-11 with regular opportunities to play football in a fun and engaging environment. East Northants presently does not have a FA Wildcats girls football centres and it is a priority to initiate and grow this activity.

At three, the number of female teams in East Northants 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 Macron Northamptonshire Women and Girls Football League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to sustain and possibly grow its provision in future years. Adult female teams play in the same league on a home and away basis and it is expected this the current level of activity will be sustained sustained and possibly grow in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Leicester City FC. 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 Birmingham City (WSL) or Leicester City Women (WC) which both 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.

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.

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 is currently no futsal team in East Northants. It is a priority for the County FA to grow and sustain the sport for male, female, youth and adult players.

Recreational football

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

There are currently no FA Just Play centres in East Northants. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Kings Cliffe Active and Oundle Town Football Club. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include casual bookings on 3G and sand-based artificial turf pitches throughout the district.

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 Northamptonshire is played in all parts of the local authority. Local parks in Kings Cliffe, Oundle, Thrapston, Raunds, Higham Ferrers and Rushden are key well-used site locations.

The key strengths of local football in East Northants include the large number of affiliated mini soccer, youth and adult football teams playing in Charter Standard Clubs. It is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, aspects of provision that are less well represented than is typical in local authorities of a similar size include recreational opportunities (Just Play and Wildcats), female teams and disability teams. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for East Northants are:

1. High quality introduction to football – male, female, disability, futsal
2. Develop clubs and leagues – charter standard, safeguarding & respect
3. Embrace all formats, engage all participants
4. Recruit, develop and support the workforce
5. Develop sustainable football facilities

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 East Northamptonshire. 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 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 East Northamptonshire Playing Pitch Strategy was adopted in 2016. It indicated a shortfall of one 3G FTP based on a 1:42 ratio of teams to pitches, with a possibility that two may be required due to travel distances between the main settlements in the North (Oundle) and South (Higham Ferrers ) of the district.

However, current (2018/9) affiliation data confirms that there are 123 teams in East Northamptonshire indicating an overall requirement for three full size 3G FTPs.

The full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTP at Manor Sport And Leisure Ltd (Manor School) which is 71 x 106 m in size is in need of replacement, having been installed in 2005. Further investigation is required on behalf of the football foundation and CFA to identify whether a sinking fund is in place for replacement and thus whether there is a funding requirement.

There are also two small-sided 3G FTPs at:

• Ferrers School (45 x 89 m)
• KC Active (Kings Cliffe, 40 x 60m)

All 3G FTPs are available for community use, however the pitch at KC Active requires registration.

East Northamptonshire is a sparsely populated district, however its largest town (Rushden) in the South of the district is not currently served with a 3G FTP. Consultation with clubs such as AFC Rushden and Diamonds FC and Oundle Town suggests that a lack of access to 3G provision for midweek training is a key issue in the district.

Two priority projects for potential investment are identified. These comprise two new FTPs at Higham Ferrers (County FA Hub) and Oundle School (replacing an existing sand based pitch).

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 six grass pitch sites in East Northamptonshire with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 19 grass pitches.

Local consultation shows that, alongside several poor quality current pitch sites there are a number of opportunities to develop new grass pitch sites as a result of linked residential and / or commercial development. This applies specifically two plots of land adjacent to the Lancaster Park site in Higham Ferrers where Northamptonshire FA and AFC Rushden & Diamonds intend to develop separate hub sites, and in Oundle where Oundle Town intend to extend its existing facilities.

Of the six key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that three should be prioritised along with the two new sites adjacent Lancaster Park . This will result in quality improvements to 17 pitches:

Five priority projects are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition and with a strategic focus to improve club pitches.

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 grass pitch sites in East Northamptonshire with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), five sites have suitable changing rooms, and two sites require improvement/replacement (Amos Lawrence Recreation Ground, Raunds and Higham Town)

In addition to the site above, the Northamptonshire County FA hub facility at Higham Ferrers will also require a new build pavilion, meanwhile the newly created sites at Oundle Town FC and AFC Rushden & Diamonds will also need new changing provision, although the potential for the latter club to access new changing provision at the CFA should also be considered.

Five priority projects 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 one indoor facility that could be improved to develop futsal, at Pemberton Leisure Centre, where futsal line markings and improvement to the sports hall floor should be considered.

Consultation with Oundle School also confirmed that it is currently building a new indoor sports centre which would have the technical capacity to accommodate futsal. It is recommended that the County FA holds further discussions with the School to ascertain the possibility of specifying the hall for futsal and of brokering community access.

Consultation with Northants Active Partnership confirmed that Raunds Town is a ‘hotspot’ area for increasing participation amongst older population and people with disabilities. Consultation with Barnwell PC also identified need for a kickaround area to support social / recreational 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:

• Representative - Oundle Town FC
• Chairman - Rushden & Diamonds FC
• Representative - Raunds Town FC
• Director of Sport - Oundle School
• Representative - Thrapston Town FC
• Representative - Higham Town FC
• Clerk - Lowick & Slipton PC
• Clerk - Raunds PC
• Clerk - Irthlingbrough TC
• Clerk - Barnwell PC
• Partnership Director - Active Northants
• Chief Executive Officer - Northampton Town FC
• Chief Executive Officer - Northamptonshire FA