Local Football Facility Plan Fareham

Fareham is in the South Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 116,339. This is expected to rise to 127,679 by 2037.

Fareham is ranked 55 out of 67 LAs in the region, and 298 out of 317 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (96.75%). This is substantially higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Fareham’s population represented by the BAME community is 3.25%. This is significantly below the national average (14.6%)

Local Authority

The Fareham Council Corporate Strategy's (2017-2023) stated vision is to ensure that the Authority becomes a prosperous and attractive place to be.

To achieve this, one of the Council's key objectives is to improve the health and wellbeing of residents by providing a variety of high quality sports and leisure facilities.

The Authority is working on its Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) and hopes to have it completed by Autumn 2020. It was agreed that the grass pitch ratings derived from the PPS Stage B report can be used to identify which grass pitch sites can be identified for funding.

County football association

Fareham is covered by the Hampshire 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). There is no active CCO in Fareham.

Local leisure operator

Everyone Active manages two leisure centres in the Authority in partnership with Fareham Council. These include Fareham Leisure Centre and Holly Hill Leisure Centre. Neither site includes any 3G facilities.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Fareham. 10 individuals (representing 10 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Fareham Council
• A number of schools- see appendix
• A total of five football clubs- see appendix

(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. Fareham has a total of 206 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 Fareham, seven clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These are:

• AFC Portchester -37
• Crofton Saints- 23
• Fareham Town Youth - 31
• Locksheath Lions Youth- 13
• Sarisbury Sparks - 19
• Stubbington - 25
• Warsash Wasps Sports- 22

Leagues

Four leagues cater for clubs and teams in Fareham offering competitive opportunities for youth and adults males. These are:

• Eastleigh and District Mini Soccer League (central venue)
• Southampton Tyro League (home and away/central Venue)
• Mid Solent Youth League 230 teams (home and away)
• Portsmouth Youth League 330 teams (home and away)

Female league provision is delivered on a county basis.

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to/from Fareham primarily due to teams playing matches against clubs/teams from Southampton or Portsmouth .

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 Fareham there is no football team/session 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. Fareham has two FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 14, Fareham’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 of them to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league is the Hampshire Girls Youth League in which matches are played on a home and away and central venue basis. It is expected to grow provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Hampshire County Women’s League. Its matches are played on a home and away basis it expects to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Southampton. 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 Reading 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:

• Soccer City - Fareham Industrial Park
• Play Football - Crofton School

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 affiliated futsal teams in Fareham. 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 one FA Just Play centre in Fareham. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Fareham Leisure Centre. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development.

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 Fareham is played in a range of locations, particular 'hotspots' such as Park Lane Rec Ground.

The key strengths of local football in Fareham include adult male and youth football and it is recommended that this is sustained and encouraged to grow further. However, gaps include, disability , recreational and futsal opportunities. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Fareham are to:

1. Sustain male youth and adult football
2. Increase the number of womens and girls teams.
3. Grow futsal within the Authority.
4. Increase the number of Just Play centres.
5. Support the development of disability opportunities.

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 Fareham. It identifies current issues and presents opportunities for improvements, including a list of priority projects for potential investment. Local assets and opportunities have been reviewed in line with four investment priorities:

• 3G FTPs
• Improved grass pitches
• Changing room pavilions / clubhouses
• Small sided facilities

To ensure a consistent and high quality approach, local areas are reviewed applying a standard approach, supplemented by input from consultation with local partners and stakeholder organisations.

While each investment priority is reviewed individually, it is understood that they can be inter-reliant; account is, thus, taken of these potential connections.

3G FTPs are a high quality and indispensable part of modern football facilities; their impact cannot be underestimated. In recent years the industry has seen major innovations and improvements to artificial surfaces (and sports lighting). This has created playing surfaces that replicate a good standard natural turf pitch whilst significantly increasing levels of use (x20). All FTPs must have sports lighting to achieve this.

The high quality, consistent playing surface is the ideal environment to play the game and for young people to learn. With regular maintenance programmes, FTPs can be heavily used all year round with no decline in quality. They almost completely negate annoying fixture cancellations during winter months, helping football to be a key part of a regular physical activity habit.

High capacity levels offer a great opportunity to embrace all formats and engage all participants. A full-sized 3G caters for an average of 1,200 participants per week and is suitable for various location types. That means being fully inclusive to all sections of the community, with a particular focus on under-represented groups such as women and girls, people with a disability, BAME communities and people from lower socio-economic groups.

The way 3G FTPs are used is rapidly changing; current line-marking systems allow for match play across all formats of football (5v5, 7v7, 9v9 and 11v11). This enables significant levels of match-play to be transferred from grass to 3G.

Currently, there are no full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Fareham. However, the Authority does have smaller sized 3G sites located at:

• Portchester Community School - 7v7 FTP (0.5)
• Warsash Wasps - 7v7 FTP (0.5)
• Crofton Secondary School - 5v5 FTP (0.25)
• Whiteley Primary School - 5v5 FTP (0.5)*

*not available for community use

The sites at Warsash FC, Portchester School and Crofton School are all available for community use, however, Whiteley Primary School is not considered to be available as it does not have floodlights. Consultation with the County FA indicates the facility at Whiteley Primary School was funded by the School itself and it is not a current priority to upgrade it. If floodlights were installed, it would be heavily used by Whiteley Wanderers. Of the community available pitches listed, the facility at Portchester School is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that it has been quality checked and can be used for football match play).

As there is no current PPS, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38.

On the basis that there are 206 teams in Fareham, there is a requirement for 5.5 full sized 3G FTPs. Totalling up the existing small-sided venues, there are currently 1.25 full sized community available 3G FTP equivalents. This means that there is a shortfall of 4.5 full sized 3G FTPs.

Due to the absence of full sized 3G provision, the priority for this plan is to identify strategic sites based upon an even geographical spread to support key clubs and community organisations. Without the evidence base of a PPS, the following proposed breakdown has been agreed based upon club consultation and a good understanding of the Authority area:

• One 3G FTP - in the Western area of the Authority
• Two 3G FTPs - in the central area of the Authority
• One 3G FTP- in the Eastern area of the Authority
• One 3G FTP - in the Southern area of the Authority*

(* This will also help cater for the needs of clubs from Gosport).

A number of key clubs in the Authority currently struggle to access full sized 3G FTPs. These include Fareham Town and AFC Portchester.

AFC Portchester currently runs c.40 teams and is currently limited to utilising the facility at Portchester School, which it has (by some distance) outgrown.

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified. This consists of five new full sized 3G FTPs. It should be noted that the proposed full sized 3G FTP at Crofton Secondary School will replace the small sided pitch currently in situ. Final venue locations will be based upon the geographical spread identified above and the need to support key clubs and community organisations.

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 11 grass pitch sites in Fareham with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 39 grass pitches. Of these, four are considered to have good quality pitches and seven contain pitches which are of standard or poor quality.

It was determined that all seven sites containing poor or standard rated pitches should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to 21 pitches:

Seven priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS (Stage B report) and ratified by local partners.

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 11 key grass pitch sites in Fareham with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) eight have suitable changing rooms, two require improvement/replacement and one has no current facilities and requires a new pavilion.

Three 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.

One potential opportunity for a MUGAs is identified. The proposed site is in an area of relatively high deprivation and is a popular location for informal football.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no areas of parks or green 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:

• Fareham Council
• AFC Portchester
• Crofton Saints FC
• Fareham Town Youth FC
• Locks Heath Lions FC
• Stubbington Youth FC
• Cams Hill School
• Porchester Community School
• Brookfield School
• Crofton School