Local Football Facility Plan Exeter

Exeter is in the South West Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 128,916. This is expected to rise to 148,540 by 2039.

Exeter is ranked 16th out of 37 LAs in the region, and 166th out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Exeter's ethnic composition is primarily white (93%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Exeter’s population represented by the BAME community is 7%. This is below the national average (14.6%).

Local Authority

The Exeter City Council Corporate Strategy focuses on three strategic objectives that address the current challenges facing the City: these are:

• Tackling congestion and accessibility
• Promoting active and healthy lifestyles
• Building great neighbourhoods.

To promote active and healthy lifestyles, the Authority will strive to make Exeter the most active city in England with a high-quality and accessible built environment and green spaces that encourage active and healthy lifestyles in communities that support wellbeing and reduce social isolation.

Exeter has also been selected to be one of the twelve areas in England to tackle inactivity through the Local Delivery Pilot programme. Around £100 million of National Lottery funding will be invested in the twelve pilot areas over four years to make it easier for people in these communities to access sport and physical activity. One of the key projects which is being developed in the City, is a social prescribing project, aimed at improving the mental wellbeing of individuals. This involves connecting people to activities within their local communities and reduce the demand on local GP practices.

The Authority does not have an adopted playing pitch strategy in place; however, it is planning to commission a study in January 2020.

County Football Association

Exeter is covered by the Devon 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. It should be noted that the City of Exeter has not received any Football foundation funding since 2000.

Active Devon

Active Devon is the Active Partnership for the region. Its latest strategy's (2019-2021) vision is to inspire and support people to get active and stay active . To achieve this, its key strategic priorities include:

• To help people choose active lifestyles by ensuring that the opportunity and the offer is right for their needs and is accessible to them.
• Build capacity in individuals and local organisations to help make Devon’s communities places where it is easy to choose activity.
• Reaching out to consumers to inform and inspire them to choose active lifestyles.
• Discover and share new approaches to influence people’s lifestyle choices towards activity.
• Increase resources and energy behind achieving the Vision.

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). Exeter City Community Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area. Activities include holiday camps, pay and play sessions, PL KICKS, disability programmes and mass participation sporting events, including the facilitation of the Exeter half marathon, which attracts over 500 participants.

Local leisure operator

Legacy Leisure is the key leisure operator in Exeter. It currently runs six key sites including Wonford Sports Centre and Pyramids Swimming and Leisure Centre. It does not manage any 3G FTPs or grass pitch sites.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Exeter. 16 individuals (representing 15 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Wellbeing Exeter
• Legacy Leisure
• Ted Wragg Academy Trust
• A range of clubs- see Appendix 2 for a full list

(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. Exeter has a total of 169 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 Exeter, eight clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2017-18 affiliation data) are:

• Central - 20 teams
• Alphington - 16 teams
• Stoke Hill - 16 teams
• Heavitree Youth - 15 teams
• West Exe Youth - 15 teams

Leagues

Nine leagues serve clubs and teams in Exeter. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, disability, youth and adults. The largest of these (2018-19) are:

• The Exeter & District Youth League – 339 teams– home and away
• The Devon & Exeter League – 147 teams– home and away

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to/from Exeter due to teams playing in neighbouring authorities when competing in both the Devon & Exeter League and Exeter & District Youth 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 Exeter there are 17 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. Exeter has three FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 10, Exeter’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 Devon County Girls League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Devon Women’s League; it too plays matches on a home and away basis and is expected to grow its provision in future years.

There is no FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) in Devon, however, the Devon FA Girls Advanced Coaching Centre is located in the Authority. 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 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. Key local providers include

• Powerplay - Exeter University Sports Centre
• Soccer Sixes - West Exe College and Isca College

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced, small sided team game that is widely played across the world. Typically it is played on an indoor surface with hockey-sized goals and a size 4 football with reduced ball bounce. It is the FA’s aim to ensure that futsal is available across the country.

There are currently no community futsal teams in Exeter, although the University and Exeter City have affiliated teams within regional/national competition. It is a priority for the County FA to grow futsal for 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 three FA Just Play centres in Exeter. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Charter Standard Clubs and Exeter City Community Trust. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities to be sustained. Other local recreational football programmes include Man vs Fat and pro-club community scheme activity delivered by a range of organisations including Exeter City Community Trust.

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 Exeter is played across a number of sites in the Authority, including Heavitree Pleasure Ground and Marrivale Road MUGA.

The key strengths of local football in Exeter include walking football and Just Play provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However there are aspects of football provision that lower than local authorities of a similar size, these include female and small-sided. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Exeter are:

1. Adult 11 v 11 football
2. All age appropriate formats of competition in youth football
3. Female football
4. Small-sided football and/or futsal
5. Weight-loss/health clubs, walking football & other casual participation programmes

This section reviews existing football facility assets in Exeter. 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 full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in are located at:

• Exeter University*
• Exeter College

*Pitch not community available

In addition, there is one small-sided (5v5 - 0.25) 3G FTP at Heavitree Social Club.

As shown, only one full sized 3G FTP is available for community use. Those at the University and Exeter Football Club only serve the organisation's requirements. The 3G FTP at Exeter College is the only facility which is community available; it is also on the FA pitch register (meaning it is quality checked and can be used for football match play). It should also be noted that some of the sand dressed artificial grass pitches currently accommodate a large proportion of football club training demand. The most popular sand dressed pitches are those at St Luke's College and St James' School.

Exeter does not have an adopted 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 169 teams in Exeter, there is a requirement for 4.5 full sized 3G FTP equivalents. Given that current supply is calculated at 1.25 (including the 5v5 at Heavitree Social Club) the shortfall is three full-sized 3G FTPs.

Unsurpisingly, with just the one full-sized community available 3G FTP, there are significant provision gaps. The key shortfall ares include the south of the city, the north west of the city and west of the River Exe.

Local consultation confirms common issues associated with limited availability and a lack of match play opportunity on 3G; the only community available venue is already fully utilised. Although the sand dressed facilities can accommodate some of the training demand, clubs would prefer to play and train on a 3G surface and opportunity to do so is very limited.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified - designed to address key provision gaps.

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 eight grass pitch sites in Exeter with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 34 grass pitches. Of these, one is considered to have good quality pitches, six are of poor quality and one is currently unavailable.

Local consultation confirms the issues associated with poor pitch quality and that they need to be addressed.

Bromhams Farm Playing Field is already being developed without funding via the Football Foundation. This five pitch site served as a contractors compound while the Environment Agency has been improving the flood defences on the River Exe, and it is the responsibility of the Agency to upgrade these pitches. Work is expected to commence next year to reinstate the pitches once the flood defences are completed.

Of the eight key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that six of these should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to 24 pitches:

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified for investment. Due to the lack of a PPS, pitch quality rating was evidenced by club consultation and pitch improvement reports.

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 Exeter with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) three have suitable changing rooms, four have pavilions which require improvement/replacement and one has no facility and require new changing pavilion.

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified:

Good facilities are important to all small sided football players, but it is important to understand the different formats of the small-sided game and the various facility types they relate to.

Research suggests that small-sided players in teams and leagues, and in recreational sessions, prefer a 3G surface type because it replicates a good standard natural turf pitch. These facilities have already been covered in the 3G FTP section of this LFFP.

Indoor environments currently accommodate 20% of football participation and are also popular with players in teams and leagues and recreational sessions . Indoor sports halls are most popular, along with some community halls and indoor 3G centres. Environments need to be engaging, have clear line-marking and the correct size goalposts.

Informal players require facilities that are open and free to access as this enables play opportunities that are often spontaneous. In these circumstances multi-use games areas (MUGAs) can be effective in areas of high urban population and limited green space. Such facilities can be modern, bright, creative and engaging. While this plan will identify suitable locations for such facilities, the design and specifics of the facility type can be agreed at a later stage with Football Foundation staff when projects are ready to progress to pre-application stage.

Parks and open green spaces are also important to informal play and require goalposts and zones that are free from litter and dog fouling.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no indoor facilities require improvement to develop small sided football. Exeter University has a 12 court hall which is currently used for futsal.

Local consultation identifies six potential opportunities to develop MUGAs. In each case the rationale is based on the site serving an area significant population, where opportunity for recreational football is currently limited and/or are sites where Exeter Community Trust and other community organisations presently operate or would like to.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no parks or open spaces require improvement to develop small sided 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:

Exeter City Council - Active & Healthy People Programme Lead

Exeter City Council - Green Space Manager

Exeter City Community Trust - Foundation Manager

Whipton and Pinhoe FC - Club Secretary

Pinhoe Spartan FC - Club Secretary

Stoke Hill FC - Club Secretary

Wellbeing Exeter - Project Manager

Central FC/Central Youth - Club Secretary

Whipton Youth - Club Secretary

Exeter College - Facilities Manager

Alphington FC - Club Secretary

Live West Housing Association - Project Manager

Young Devon - Youth Worker

Exeter Arrows - Project Manager

Legacy Leisure - Sports Development Officer

Ted Wragg Trust - Academy Manager