Local Football Facility Plan Folkestone & Hythe

Folkestone and Hythe is in the South East Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2018 Mid-Year Estimate) is 112,578. This is expected to rise to 125,496 by 2039.

Folkestone and Hythe is ranked 8 out of 67 LAs in the region, and 83 out of 317 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (95%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Folkestone and Hythe’s population represented by the BAME community is 5%. This is below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The Folkestone and Hythe Council Corporate Plan (2017-2020): Investing for the next generation, has identified six key strategic objectives towards which the Authority will work within the Plan time-frame. In relation to sport and well being, its key objective is to keep its communities healthy and safe. To achieve this, the priorities are to promote healthy lifestyles within all communities, ensure access to high quality open space and reduce health inequalities through its own services and partnership working.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was adopted in 2018. It notes the existing good quality 3G FTP in the Authority - at Three Hills Sports Park and calculate the shortfall of 3G FTPs at two. The PPS proposes addressing this with a focus on supporting Hythe Town Youth FC and tackling the geographical shortfall in the Romney Marsh sub-area.

County football association

Folkestone and Hythe is covered by the Kent 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 Charlton Athletic deliver a small number of community programmes focusing on health and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

There is no leisure operator for community football facilities in Folkestone and Hythe. All facilities, including Folkestone Leisure Centre and Hythe Swimming Pool are managed in house by the local authority.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a range of agencies in Folkestone and Hythe . Nine individuals (representing nine local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Folkestone and Hythe District Council
• Charton Athletic Community Foundation
• A number of key football clubs.

(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. Folkestone & Hythe 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 ten years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Folkestone & Hythe, five clubs have more than ten registered teams. These are (based upon 2019-20 affiliation data):

• Folkestone Invicta Youth - 22 teams
• Grasshopper Juniors - 14 teams
• Hawkinge Town Youth - 16 teams
• Hythe Town Youth - 20 teams
• New Romney - 13 teams
  
  

Leagues

No leagues are based solely in Folkestone & Hythe, however, opportunities for male youth, male adults, disability, women and girls are all provided in neighbouring areas throughout East Kent. This results in significant cross boundary migration. The leagues in which local teams complete include:

• Ashford & District Football League
• Ashford and District Sunday League
• Ashford And District Youth League
• Dover and District Sunday Football League
• East Kent Youth League
• Faversham & District Youth Football League
• Isthmian Football League
• Kent County Football League
• Kent Disability Football League
• Kent FA Youth Futsal League
• Kent Girls/Ladies Football League
• Kent Youth League
• Shepway Schools Fathers Football League
• Southern Counties East Football League

Disability football

There are 9.4million 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 Folkestone and Hythe there are no football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to initiate and 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. Folkestone & Hythe has one FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At five, Folkestone and Hythe ’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 Kent Girls/Ladies Football League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It expects to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female leagues are the Kent Girls/Ladies Football League and South East Counties Womens League. Both play their matches on a home and away and expect to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Gillingham FC which is located in Swale. 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 Brighton & Hove Albion 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. Key local providers include Soccer sixes at Three Hills Sports Park.

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 two affiliated futsal teams in Folkestone & Hythe. They play in the Kent FA Youth Futsal League at key site locations including Stour Centre, Ashford. 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 Folkestone & Hythe. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisations such as Three Hills Sports Park. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include Shepway Fathers Football League and soccer school sessions which are delivered by a range of organisations including Kent FA and M&M Football Academy .

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 Folkestone and Hythe is played across sites in the Authority's areas of higher population, mainly in Folkestone and New Romney.

The key strengths of local football in Folkestone & Hythe include youth and adult male provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, provision gaps include women and girls, disability and informal football. It is, therefore, recommended that future football development priorities for Folkestone and Hythe are to:

1. Ensure that club structures are in place to grow in line with proposed housing growth.
2. Grow the number of disability teams in the Authority
3. Develop recreational football provision
4. Develop comprehensive support to volunteers to allow clubs to retain, grow and provide opportunity to all.
5. Increase women and girls provision via informal ladies sessions and the FA Wildcats programme.
6. Continue to grow futsal.

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 Folkestone and Hythe 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 investment priorities are 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 only full-sized 3G FTP in Folkestone & Hythe is located at Three Hills Sports Park.

The Authority 2018 PPS indicates a shortfall of two full sized 3G FTPs and suggests that future projects should potentially involve supporting Hythe Town Youth FC and tackling the shortfall in the Romney Marsh sub-area.

Three Hills Sports Park is available for community use and is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that it has been quality checked and can be used for football match play).

Three Hills Sports Park is in Folkestone in the east. There is, thus, no 3G provision in the central or western areas of the Authority. Local clubs such as Hythe and Lydd FC have to travel significant distances to either Folkestone or neighbouring authorities to access a 3G venue.

Two priority projects for potential investment are identified reflecting the priorities outlined above which themselves reflect stated PPS recommendations.

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 Folkestone and Hythe with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 35 grass pitches. Of these sites, seven are considered to have good quality pitches while pitches at the other four are rated as either standard or poor.

Three sites are prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to a total of 11 pitches. A fourth site, Three Hills Sports Complex, is to received separate investment to improve the remaining grass pitches as mitigation for an athletics track which is planned to be built on 2 of the pitches. The mitigation process will create two new (grass) pitches and new changing provision at the current site.

In addition, the new development at Otterpool Park will have grass pitches (potentially three). It is, thus, identified as a potential project, resulting in four proposals overall.

Four priority projects for potential investment are been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by the latest PPS and ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites with current poor or standard pitches and that reflect the strategic focus to support affiliated football.

These can provide a number of different benefits. While the primary function is normally the provision of changing rooms to accommodate match-play and training (for players and officials), there can be equal value in facilities such as community and education rooms, catering facilities and spectator toilets.

Each project will take a progressive approach to pavilions and clubhouses (beyond the provision of changing rooms) and be open to new opportunities to engage the whole community. That means, creating environments that are welcoming to players, spectators, volunteers, officials and all sections of the community.

Such assets should support other investment priorities (e.g. 3G FTPs and grass pitches) and be located at sites that will have the greatest impact on local communities. To ensure this, focus is given to sites with three or more full-size pitch equivalents. However, as pitch quality is the number one priority for players this is prioritised before investment in changing room pavilions /clubhouses.

Clearly, facilities need to be well managed and maintained to keep them in a good state of repair. Consideration will be given to reviewing the best operator solution for key sites and the installation of revenue generating features such as catering facilities and community rooms. To achieve this, business plan support will be given to each priority project as it progresses to an application to the Football Foundation.

Of the 11 key grass pitch sites in Folkestone and Hythe with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) all have suitable changing rooms. The new development at Otterpool Park may require investment from the Foundation and is, as a consequence, listed as a potential new facility project.

One priority project for potential investment is 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.

Four potential opportunities to develop MUGAs are identified. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in an urban location, with locally high proportions of people from lower social economic groups and corresponding demand for informal football. It should be noted that Charlton Athletic, the Authority's sports development department or local clubs could deliver programmes from these sites should investment be made.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no parks and open green 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:

Folkestone & Hythe District Council

Shepway Sports Trust
Roger De Haan Charitable Trust
Folkestone Invicta Youth FC
Hawkinge Town Youth FC
Hythe Town FC
Lydd Town FC
Kent Sport
Charlton Athletic Community Trust