Local Football Facility Plan Hastings

Hastings is located in the South East region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2016 Mid-Year Estimate) is 92,813. This is expected to rise to 104,103 by 2039.

Hasting’s ethnic composition is primarily white (93.77%). This is considerably higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Hasting’s population represented by the BAME community is 6.23%. This is well below the national average (14.6%).

Local authority

The strategic vision set out in the Hastings Sports and Physical Activity Strategy 2016-2020 is that it will be an active town where high quality sport and physical activity opportunities are accessible to all and the majority of people are actively engaged in sport and physical activity. The strategy reflects the coming together of a range of partners to establish creative and innovative ways to make a difference through sports and physical activity.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy which was prepared jointly with Rother District Council, was adopted in 2016. The key findings and stated overarching priorities are to:

• Improve the standard of existing poor quality pitches
• Improve the quality of ancillary facilities, which are in some cases unfit for purpose and urgently require re-development
• Address the deficit of 3G FTP supply.

County football association

Hastings is covered by the Sussex 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 offer a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). There is no active CCO in Hastings.

Local leisure operator

Freedom Leisure is the key leisure operator in Hastings. It currently runs three key sites including Summerfields Leisure Centre, Helenswood Sports Centre and Falaise Fitness Centre.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Hastings. 14 individuals (representing 13 local organisations) were spoken to. Agencies consulted include:

• Hastings Borough Council
• The Y Centre
• Optivo
• Active Hastings Coordinator
• Hastings United FC

(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. Hastings has a total of 72 teams, which is lower 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 Hastings, two clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Hastings United Youth - 18 teams
• Hastings Wanderers - 12 teams

Three leagues operate in Hastings. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. While there is no specific league opportunities for disability within Hastings there is however suitable provision provided in neighbouring Rother.

The largest local leagues (2018-19) serving football in Hastings include:

• Rother & District Youth Football League – 115 teams (home and away)
• Sussex County Women & Girls Football League – 105 teams (home and away)

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to / from Hastings primarily due to leagues covering more than one local authority area.

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 Hastings there are no 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. Hastings has two FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At one, Hasting’s number of female teams is comparable to local areas of a similar size. The County FA’s priority is to support the existing club to grow and encourage other local clubs in the area to develop and offer more playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league is the Sussex County Women & Girls Football 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 Sussex County Women & Girls Football League. Its matches are also played on a home and away basis and it too is expected to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Brighton & Hove Albion Women which is located in Adur 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 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 & 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:

• FirmBalls - Bexhill and Hastings

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 Futsal is available across the country.

There are currently four futsal teams in Hastings including one that plays in The FA National League in Sevenoaks, Kent. It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal for youth 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 Hastings. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Summerfields Leisure Centre. Walking football and Just Play are formats that the County FA has prioritised for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include man vs fat.

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 Hastings is played particularly in the centre of the Borough. Alexandra Park is a key heavily used site.

The key strengths of local football in Hastings include youth and Futsal provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, there are elements of football provision which are proprtionately below those found in local authorities of a similar size; these include disability and female.

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

1. Introduce Flexi Football including Walking Football
2. Grow Female Football
3. Introduce Disability Football
4. Grow Youth Futsal
5. Introduce FA Mars Just Play

The facilities required to assist this are now set out in the Assets and opportunities section.

In addition, 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 Hastings. 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 inline with four investment priorities:

1. 3G FTPs
2. Improved grass pitches
3. Changing room pavilions / clubhouses
4. 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.

PitchFinder data states that there are currently no full-sized (11v11) 3G FTPs in Hastings. This is a shortfall of two pitches relative to assessed demand.

There is currently one small-sided floodlit 3G FTP in the Authority, located at The Hastings Academy.

It is recommended that any future 3G FTPs developed are made available to the community and are assessed and placed on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play).

Facility gaps exists across the whole authority despite relatively high levels of population density and significant local deprivation. It is recommended that this is addressed.

Two priority projects for potential investment have been identified; one of these could be developed at one of two alternative sites.

Under-supply was calculated using the FA 3G FTP demand and supply model. Proposed sites were selected based upon a rationale of good access, a high local population and geographic spread.

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 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.

In many local areas the key challenge is to create a sustainable approach to provide good quality football pitches for the long-term. Many local authorities (78%) intend to increase pitch hire fees in the future. However, many 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 seven key grass pitch sites in Hastings with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 25 grass pitches. Of the seven sites, two are considered to have good quality pitches, and the pitches at the other five are of standard or poor quality.

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified. quality. Prioritisation was informed by local partners based upon a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition, that had the most pitches or that were the most important in servicing football. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by the PPS 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 seven key sites with three or more full-size pitch equivalents in Hastings (or deemed to be strategically important), two have suitable changing room pavilions / clubhouses, two have facilities that need improvement/replacement and two have no facilities and require a new changing pavilion, or need additional facilities.

The changing facilities at Tilekiln Road Recreation Ground also require refurbishment; however, this will be undertaken without funding from the Football Foundation.

In addition to the seven sites noted above, the potential development of a 3G FTP as part of the Bohemia Masterplan project would create a need for new changing facilities.

Five priority projects for potential investment are, 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 indicates that there are two indoor facilities that require improvement to develop small-sided football.

Five potential opportunities for MUGAs have been 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 and a high proportion of people from lower social economic groups - with corresponding high local demand for informal football.

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

• Leisure Development Manger - Hastings Borough Council
• Resort Services Manager - Hastings Borough Council
• Hastings United Youth - Huyfc Secretary
• Hastings Wanderers FC - Secretary
• Hastings United FC - Secretary
• Hollington United FC - Secretary
• S+C Pass & Move – Secretary
• Sussex Futsall Club - Secretary
• St Leonards Academy – Estates Support Manager
• The Hastings Academy - Leonards Academy Estates Support Manager
• Ark William Parker School – Principle and Finance Manager
• Active Hastings Coordinator - Active Sussex
• Y Centre (YMCA) – Chair
• Optivo - Neighbourhood Manager