Local Football Facility Plan Guernsey

Guernsey is a self governing British crown dependency located in the English Channel, 40 km off the western French coastline.

The latest recorded population on the island (2016 Mid-Year Estimate) is 63,026 with the majority (41.67%) in the age structure between 25-54 years. The population is expected to rise to 63,809 by 2030. (Source: Annual Guernsey Population Projections: States of Guernsey).

States of Guernsey

The States of Guernsey Island Development Plan (2106) vision is to create and maintain a socially inclusive, healthy and economically strong society. To achieve this, it makes provision for the development of new social and community facilities that will, with existing facilities, enable the Island to meet the needs of its population. In addition, schools will be encouraged to allow greater levels of community access to their facilities beyond the school day enabling more opportunity for sport, health and well being activities.

Guernsey does not have a playing pitch strategy.

The Government manages the only leisure centre on the island; the Beau Séjour Leisure Centre. This does not have any football provision.

County Football Association

Guernsey is covered by Guernsey 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 Guernsey.

Local leisure operator

There is no leisure operator for community football facilities in Guernsey. As noted above, the one leisure centre on the island is managed by the State.

Local consultation

This has taken place with six individuals (representing four local organisations) . The agencies consulted include:

• Guernsey FA
• States of Guernsey Government
• Community 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. Guernsey has a total of 188 teams (including mini 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. In Guernsey, six clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These are:

• St Martins AC – 35 teams
• Northerners AC – 28 teams
• Guernsey Rovers - 23 teams
• Vale Recreation – 22 teams
• Guernsey Rangers - 20 teams
• Sylvans - 20 teams

Leagues

One league operates in Guernsey; the Guernsey Football League. It offers competitive opportunities for youth, adults, and girls (within mixed youth football) . It has (2018-19) 41 adult teams playing home and away and 40 youth teams playing home and away. There is no specific league opportunity for people with disabilities on the Island.

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 Guernsey there are no affiliated football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a Guernsey FA priority to grow this provision. For talented players the (English) 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. Guernsey has seven FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain this activity.

At six, Guernsey’s number of female teams is lower than comparable local areas. The Guernsey FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. As noted above, there is presently no local girls’ league or adult female league although the Guernsey FA has ambitions to tackle this in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Southampton FC located in Hampshire (on the mainland). Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads.

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 on the island include:

• Leisure Leagues: KGV 3G pitch
• 8-a-side League: Beau Sejour Leisure Centre

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 four futsal teams in Guernsey. These play at key site locations including St Sampsons High School. It is a priority for Guernsey FA to grow futsal for male, female, youth and adult players.

Recreational football

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

There are currently no FA Just Play centres in Guernsey. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Guernsey Walking Football Club. Walking football and Just Play are Guernsey FA priorities for 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 Guernsey is played in various parts of Guernsey. Cambridge Park, Delancey Park and La Mare De Carteret School are key popular site locations.

The key strengths of local football in Guernsey include adult and youth provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist; these include female, disability, recreational and small sided football. It is recommended that the future football development priorities for Guernsey are:

1. Female
2. Recreational
3. Small Sided
4. Disability
5. Informal

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 Guernsey. 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 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 3G FTP on the island is located at King George V (KGV) Playing Fields. It is a youth 11 v 11 sized facility, which is managed by King George V Sports Trust, a not for profit organisation which has the aim to provide community sporting facilities for the residents on the island.

There is no current 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 188 teams in Guernsey, there is a requirement for five full sized 3G FTPs. Given that the KGV pitch is youth sized (0.75 full sized 3G pitch equivalent) pitch, there is a resultant shortfall of 4.25 full sized 3G pitch equivalents.

The facility at KGV is available for community use and is on the on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning it is quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is located in the centre of the island geographically, providing training and match play opportunities for the island's population.

Due to KGV being the sole facility, it is very popular and has limited spare capacity. In addition, it cannot accommodate adult 11v11 matches due to its size. Local club consultation confirms that capacity is an issues and additional provision, ideally full sized, is required to support local clubs and to allow match play across all age ranges.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified. These comprise two full sized 3G FTPs at secondary school sites, and one 9v9 3G FTP at the Guernsey FA headquarters. Although this does not fully address the 3G FTP shortfall identified above, it is considered that installation of these three facilities should be pursued and additional projects should then be identified if future demand exists.

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 Guernsey (containing 13 grass pitches) which are deemed to be strategically important. These support a number of key clubs on catering for both training and match play demand. Although some of these sites only contain one pitch, it is felt that they are important for club development and should be considered for investment.

All eight sites are of poor quality and all need improvement. Local club consultation supports this (particularly citing drainage issues) and the plan takes these views into account in recommending the projects to be pursued.

Eight priority projects for potential investment to address pitch quality are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced and ratified by the local steering group.

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 Guernsey, seven have suitable changing rooms and one requires improvement/replacement.

One priority project for potential investment is, thus, 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 reveals there is one indoor facility that requires improvement to develop small-sided football. St Sampsons Sports Hall is currently popular with Futsal and recreational football users, and investment in the sports hall (floor and lighting) would benefit the site. This would need to be undertaken in conjunction with the upgrade of the school site.

Local consultation reveals that no MUGAs presently require improvement to develop small-sided football.

Local consultation reveals that no parks or open spaces presently 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:

• Guernsey FA- Chief Executive
• States of Guernsey- Director of Operations, Education, Sport & Culture
• States of Guernsey- Operations Director, Guernsey Sports Commission
• States of Guernsey- Director of Sport and Culture
• Guernsey Rovers - Club Secretary
• Vale Recreation- Club Secretary