Local Football Facility Plan Greenwich

The Royal Borough of Greenwich is located in the Greater London region. The current population of the Authority (ONS 2016 Mid-Year Estimate) is 279,766. This is expected to rise to 346,503 by 2039. These figures do not take into account the expected housing growth, and therefore population increase, as part of the Local Plan.

Greenwich is ranked 13 out of 33 LAs in the region, and 52 out of 326 LAs nationally within the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Greenwich’s ethnic composition is primarily White (62.46%) and this is significantly lower than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Greenwich’s population represented by the BAME community is 37.54%. This is significantly above the national average (14.6%).

Local authority

Greenwich's Parks and Open Spaces Strategy (2017) sets out the Royal Borough's vision for its parks for the next ten years. The strategy is centred on seven themes, one of these being 'recreation, health and wellbeing' which aims to ensure that parks provide spaces for active recreation and quiet reflection and contribute to the health and well-being of the local community.

The local authority has a Playing Pitch Strategy in place; this was adopted in 2015.

County football association

Greenwich is covered by London County FA which provides governance 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 club community organisations (CCOs)

These continue to expand and enhance their range of community delivery, offering a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). The Charlton Athletic Community Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) is the leisure operator in Greenwich. They currently operate 15 key sites including:

• Coldharbour Leisure Centre (100x60m and 64x32m floodlit 3G FTPs)
• Waterfront Leisure Centre
• Thomas Tallis School

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Greenwich. 15 individuals (representing 13 local organisations) were consulted. These include:

• Teviot Rangers JFC
• Coldharbour Leisure Centre
• Peabody Trust
• Plumstead Manor 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. Greenwich has a total of 409 teams, which is higher than 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 Greenwich, nine clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2017-18 affiliation data) are:

• Long Lane - 38 teams
• Welling United - 20 teams
• Teviot Rangers - 19 teams
• Welling Youth - 16 teams
• Eltham Lions - 13 teams
• Junior Reds - 12 teams
• Baldon Sports - 11 teams
• Russellers - 10 teams
• South London Special League - 10 teams

Three leagues operate in Greenwich. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including disability, youth male and adult male.

Greenwich largest local leagues (2017-18) include:

• SELKENT– 832 teams– home and away
• WESFA – 42 teams– home and away
• South London Special League– 10 teams– 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 Greenwich 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. Greenwich has four FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 13, Greenwich’s number of female teams is comparable to local areas of a similar size. The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls league is the Kent Girls League and matches are played on a home and away basis. The league is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is may soon be the Woolwich and Eltham Sunday Football Alliance who are looking into the feasibility of establish a new Women’s league to facilitate the local demand.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is at Charlton. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads. Charlton Athletic Women F.C. play in the Women’s Championship and 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.

Small-sided teams & 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:

• Goals
• Powerleague

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced, small sided team game that is widely played across the world. Typically it’s 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 Futsal is available across the country.

There are currently no affiliated futsal teams in Greenwich. The County FA are looking 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 are currently four FA Just Play Centres in Greenwich. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Goals and Better. Walking football and Just Play are formats that the County FA has prioritised 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 Greenwich is played particularly in the south of the Borough.

The key strengths of local football in Greenwich include male affiliated football provision and it is recommend that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist in the offer of female football.

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

1.Female Football

2.Supporting clubs to reach Charter Standard

3.Just Play recreational programmes

4.Wildcats

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 Greenwich. It identifies current issues and presents opportunities for improvements, including a list of priority projects for potential investment.

Local assets and opportunities have been reviewed in line with four investment priorities:

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

To ensure a consistent and high quality approach, each local area has been reviewed applying a standard approach, supplemented by input from consultation with local partners and stakeholder organisations.

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

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

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

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

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

FA data states that there are currently 11 full-sized (11v11) 3G FTPs in Greenwich. Existing full-sized 3G FTPs in Greenwich are located at:

• Charlton Athletic FC Training Ground (three 11v11 floodlit 3G FTPs)
• Coldharbour Leisure Centre (one 11v11 floodlit 3G FTP)
• Footscray Rugby Sports and Athletic Club (one 11v11 floodlit 3G FTP due to open for community use 2019)
• Long Lane JFC (Kidbrooke Playing Fields) (one 11v11 floodlit 3G FTP)
• Meridian Sports and Social Club Ltd (one 11v11 floodlit 3G FTP)
• Samuel Montague Youth Centre (one 11v11 floodlit 3G FTP)
• Stationers Crown Woods Academy (one 11v11 floodlit 3G FTP)
• University of Greenwich (Avery Hill) (one 11v11 floodlit 3G FTP)
• Well Hall Playing Fields (one 11v11 floodlit 3G FTP)

Additionally, there are currently 19 small-sided 3G FTPs in Greenwich at:

• St Paul's Academy (one floodlit 60x40m 3G FTP)
• Coldharbour Leisure Centre (one floodlit 60x33m 3G FTP)
• Harris Academy (one floodlit 50x25m 3G FTP)
• Millennium Primary School (one floodlit 50x25m 3G FTP)
• University of Greenwich (one floodlit 60x40m 3G FTP)
• Goals Soccer Centre (Eltham) (ten 30x20m floodlit 3G FTPs)
• HMP Belmarsh (two 35x25m and one 40x40m)
• HMP Tameside (one 50x30m 3G FTP)

In respect of full sized 3G FTPs, one of the three at Charlton Athletic FC Training Ground is currently available for community use which was originally funded via the Football Foundation. With consent from the Football Foundation it is envisaged that the play it accommodates will transfer to the Footscray Rugby Sports and Athletic Club site when the 3G FTP opens there later in 2019. The level of community access to Charlton Athletic FC Training Ground is, subsequent to that, likely to reduce. In addition, whilst the full size 3G FTPs at The University of Greenwich and Well Hall Playing Fields sites currently offer some community access, this is limited due to university and rugby use. The various limitations and upcoming changes in the borough mean that realistic supply currently equates to seven full sized 3G FTPs.

With regard to small-sided 3G FTPs, neither HMP Belmarsh or HMP Tameside offer community access. There is also reduced capacity at The University of Greenwich (due to university use) and Goals Soccer Centre (Eltham) as this is a commercial facility. This reduces supply in the borough via the equivalent of 3.25 small sided community accessible 3G FTPs.

Taking the above into account, there is a shortfall of four full size FTPs relative to assessed demand. This is calculated using FA 3G demand modelling, which in Greenwich identifies that the demand for affiliated football is higher than recreational demand. This does not take into account projected housing (and thus linked) population growth as part of the Local Plan.

Five pitches are on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the remaining pitches are assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of 3G FTP facilities is uneven; the majority are located in the south of the local area. There are provision gaps in the north and north west of the borough despite high levels of population, deprivation and housing growth. It is recommended that these are addressed.

Local consultation reveals common issues with the cost of facility hire and it is recommended that this is considered and addressed.

Seven priority projects for potential investment are identified. They were selected based upon a rationale which encompasses good access, high population, high levels of deprivation, geographic spread and capacity to cater for areas of significant housing growth.

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 standard 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 24 grass pitch sites in Greenwich with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 106 grass pitches. Local consultation undertaken to inform the LFFP suggests that a considerable number of pitches in the Authority are of poor or standard quality and that this is an issue that needs to be tackled. This was the primary determinant for those proposed for investment. Supporting clubs to maintain their own grass pitches should also be a priority.

Of the 24 key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that 11 of these should be prioritised for improvements. This will result in quality improvements to 51 pitches.

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

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

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

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

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

Of the 24 key grass pitch sites in Greenwich with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) nine were identified for investment to improve/replace current facilities.

In addition to these nine, new changing facilities may be required if 3G FTPs are developed in the Peninsula ward and Eltham West sub-area.

11 priority projects for potential investment are identified. Prioritisation was informed by local partners with the rationale of selecting sites deemed to have a pavilion which needs to be replaced or refurbished, or sites requiring new provision to support participation or other facility development:

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

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

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

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

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

Local consultation suggests two new indoor facilities which could be developed to enhance small sided football. These include the new Woolwich Leisure Centre and Westminster Industrial Estate.

Eleven potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in an area of high urban population with limited green space, high levels of deprivation, high levels of proplr from lower social economic groups and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

It was agreed that rather than a site specific approach, a number of area-wide locations would be identified where the development of small sided facilities should be pursued in line with the Greenwich Housing Strategy and the Greenwich Get Active Strategy.

Following local consultation, one location, Fairy Hill Park, has been identified to support small-sided informal football. Here, the rationale is based on it being a popular local park with suitable space / areas to increase informal football.

In addition, there is an opportunity to provide a temporary football pitch to support informal and recreational football for use across the borough.

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:

• Strategy and Development Manager - Royal Borough of Greenwich
• Partnerships and Programmes - Royal Borough of Greenwich
• Head of Sport, Leisure, Libraries and Adventure Play - Royal Borough of Greenwich
• Director of Education and Sport - Charlton Athletic Community Trust
• Relationships Manager - London Sport
• Director of Strategy - METRO Charity
• Manager - Russellers FC
• Academy Director Welling Youth
• Secretary - Eltham Lions Youth
• Chairman - Teviot Rangers JFC
• Headteacher - Plumstead Manor School
• Sports Development Manager - Peabody
• General Manager - Coldharbour Leisure Centre
• Premises Manager - Metrogas Amateur Sports Association
• Secretary - The John Roan Club
• Secretary - Chislehurst Wanderers (via Club Survey)
• Secretary - Charlton Athletic Women and Girls (via Club Survey)
• Secretary - Greenwich Mariners (via Club Survey)
• Secretary - Blackheath Village FC (via Club Survey)
• Secretary - Red Velvet (via Club Survey)
• Secretary - Eltham Town (via Club Survey)
• Secretary - Beacons FC (via Club Survey)
• Secretary - Bosco FC (via Club Survey)
• Secretary - AFC Chislehurst (via Club Survey)
• Manager - Advent Royals (via Club Survey)