Local Football Facility Plan Huntingdonshire

Demographics for the area can be seen below:

Local authority

Huntingdonshire District Council’s Corporate Plan (2023-2028) informs everything the authority does to support a refocus of its vision, priorities and work with staff, residents, partners, communities and businesses to lead Huntingdonshire into the future with confidence. The three overarching priorities of the Corporate Plan are:

• Improving quality of life for local people,
• Creating a better Huntingdonshire for future,
• Delivering good quality, high value-for-money services with good control and compliance with statutory obligations.

In addition, the authority has developed a Healthy Open Spaces Strategy (2020) which ensures that spaces continue to be used and valued by the community, and explores how spaces can support wider positive change.

Finally, Huntingdonshire's Place Strategy (Huntingdonshire 2050) sets out the journey for Huntingdonshire, including:

• Journey 1: Pride in Place
• Journey 2: Inclusive Economy
• Journey 3: Health Embedded
• Journey 4: Environmental Innovation
• Journey 5: Travel Transformed

The LFFP will seek to support these strategies and aspirations by supporting the delivery of high quality, accessible facilities which meets the sporting, social, health and wellbeing needs of local communities.

The local authority has a Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) in place; this was adopted in 2023. The key findings and stated overarching priorities are to:

• There is currently sufficient capacity across grass pitches for adult 11v11, youth 9v9 and mini 7v7 football, however shortfalls for youth 11v11 and mini 5v5.
• Future demand will place further strain on existing facilities, resulting in 9v9 and 7v7 pitches being utilised to capacity.
• Current pitch shortfalls will be exacerbated in the future as demand increases.
• There is insufficient supply of full size 3G pitches to meet current and anticipated future demand in Huntingdonshire based on the FA training scenario for football.
• There is an existing quantitative shortfall of three full size 3G pitches, increasing to four 3G pitches when accounting for future anticipated demand up to 2036.

Priorities identified within the LFFP will seek to address the challenges identified within the PPS, and via the LFFP steering group and club consultation process.

County Football Association

Huntingdonshire is covered by the Huntingdonshire 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 Delivery Manager and Regional Technical Project Manager at the Football Foundation work collaboratively with the County FA to provide pre-application support and lead on the delivery of priority projects for potential investment. The Regional Facility Planning Manager (FPM) will lead and be responsible for all aspects of strategic planning and will lead on refreshing of LFFPs.

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 Huntingdonshire.

Local leisure operator

Leisure facilities in Huntingdonshire are operated by an in-house provider under the 'One Leisure' brand. It currently runs five sports centres, including; Huntingdon Leisure Centre, Ramsey Leisure Centre, St. Neots Leisure Centre, St Ives Leisure Centre, and St Ives Outdoor Centre.

Active Partnership

Active Partnerships provide a crucial role locally in sport and physical activity development - coordinating and supporting opportunities for residents to get and stay active. The local Active Partnership covering Huntingdonshire is Living Sport. The Living Sport Strategy (2022-2024) sets out a series of strategic goals and priority areas.

Strategic Goals:

• Children & Young People
• Places & Communities
• Health, Wellbeing & Social Care

Strategic Priority Areas:

• Tackling Inequalities (CYP)
• Tackling Inequalities (Adult)
• Families
• Communities Place
• Health Workforce
• Health Pathways

The LFFP will seek to identify priority projects that may in turn support the objectives and priorities of the Active Partnership.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Huntingdonshire, including:

• Huntingdonshire District Council
• Huntingdonshire County FA
• Living Sport
• Sport England
• National Governing Bodies of sport, including:
  • England Hockey
  • England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
  • Rugby Football Union (RFU)
  • Rugby Football League (RFL)
• Local Football Clubs

Local consultation took place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in the original LFFP. As part of the refresh process a survey was sent via the County FA to all football clubs in the area. Furthermore, it is a requirement that all projects that move through to application phase undertake detailed community engagement to ensure that facilities fully serve the communities they are being designed for.

Clubs

There are over 91,000 community football teams in England, spread over an expansive network of clubs and leagues. Huntingdonshire has a total of 391 teams.

Survive. Revive. Thrive is the FA Grassroots Football Strategy 2020-2024. To deliver the goals for male and female football, there must be a vibrant, best-in-class club network around the country. The FA will work to encourage as many clubs as possible to achieve FA-Accredited status, assuring quality in everything they offer, including ever-safer and stronger player pathways. This will be coupled with a commitment to improve the quality of thousands of pitches up and down the country, with a particular focus on grass pitches.

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Huntingdonshire, 12 clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2023-24 affiliation data) are:

• Godmanchester Rovers - 33 teams
• St Ives Rangers - 30 teams
• Ramsey Colts - 25 teams
• Priory Parkside Youth - 23 teams
• Eynesbury Rovers - 18 teams
• Sawtry Colts - 17 teams
• St Ives Town FC - 17 teams
• Buckden Juniors - 15 teams
• Huntingdon Town - 12 teams
• St Neots Town - 12 teams
• St Neots Town Youth - 10 teams
• Warboys Colts - 10 teams

Leagues

One league operates in Huntingdonshire. It offers competitive opportunities for many different players, including mini soccer and youth. While there are no specific league opportunities for women and girls and disability within Huntingdonshire, suitable provision is made in neighbouring Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Huntingdonshire local league (2023-24) is the Hunts Youth League – 235 teams– home and away

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to/from Huntingdonshire due to teams playing in the Cambridgeshire County League, Peterborough & District Football League, S-Tech County Girls’ and Women's Football League in Cambridgeshire and the ParAbility Counts League (Adult Disability) in Cambridgeshire.

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 Huntingdonshire there are four 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 had big ambitions for women and girls football and managed to double levels of participation between 2017 and 2020. To achieve this required a combined effort across four pathways: education, recreation, competition and talent. Despite achieving this ambitious target more places to play are still required for women and girls. The focus now is to give all girls equal access to football by 2024 and this will be a key objective of any facility investment. The FA’s four-year strategy, titled Inspiring Positive Change, pledges to create a sustainable future for women’s and girls’ football in England. The strategy outlines eight transformational objectives to be achieved by 2024, the following across grassroots football:-

• Early Participation – Every primary school-aged girl to have equal access to football in school and in clubs.
• Development Participation – Every girl to have equal access to participate for fun, for competition and for excellence.
• Club Player Pathway – Collaborate with clubs to develop an effective high-performance, inclusive player-centred pathway.
• Football For All – Recruit and support a motivated, diverse range of local leaders organising football for their communities.
• Coaching – Support the development of exceptional coaches at every level of the game who are representative of our society.
• Refereeing – Ensure that every female referee afforded high-quality bespoke learning and development opportunities from grassroots through to the elite game.

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. Huntingdonshire has seven FA Wildcats girls football centres, as well as seven Squad Girls sessions and the priority is to sustain this activity whilst increasing the quality of provision.

The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local women and girls’ league is the Alan Boswell Women & Girls League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the Girls' Emerging Talent Centres (ETCs) across the nation are provided to increase and diversify the talent pool and give more girls than ever the chance to take their first steps on the pathway towards playing professional football. The most local ETCs are Peterborough United FC and Cambridge United FC. 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 Leicester City WFC 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:

• Leisure Leagues - St. Neots

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 eleven FA Just Play centres in Huntingdonshire. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Huntingdon Walking Football Club. Walking football and Just Play centres are County FA priorities for further growth.

The key strengths of local football in Huntingdonshire include strong affiliated football provision in addition to recreational football and participation programmes (such as Just Play, Wildcats, Squad Girls and disability football). It is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further.

The County FA has identified football development priorities for Huntingdonshire, including:

1. Increasing the quality of participation programmes and centres; such as Wildcats, Squad Girls, and Comets sessions.
2. Development of flexi leagues - including for women and vets football.
3. Development of further small-sided football 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. 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 Artificial Grass Pitches (AGPs)
• Improved grass pitches
• Off pitch and ancillary facilities (e.g. toilets, changing rooms, catering)
• 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 pitches 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 3G pitches 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, 3G pitches 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 pitches 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.

Existing full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Huntingdonshire include:

• Hinchingbrooke School
• Leading Drove (Yaxley FC)
• One Leisure Ramsay
• One Leisure St Ives Outdoor Centre
• One Leisure St Neots
• Sawtry Village Academy*
• St Ives Town Football Club
• St Neots Town Football Club

*at the time of the development of this LFFP, Sawtry Village Academy remains in development/construction, however is included within the existing supply due to its imminent development.

Additionally, there are currently four small-sided 3G AGP centres in Huntingdonshire:

• Alconbury Sports & Social Club (5v5)
• Middletons Road Recreation Ground (7v7)
• One Leisure Huntingdon (2 x 5v5)

Huntingdonshire has a PPS adopted in 2023. The PPS indicates that, based on 2021/22 affiliation data of 380 teams, there is a current shortfall of three full size 3G FTPs, increasing to a shortfall of four pitches when considering future demand up to 2036. Affiliation data for 2023/24 shows a marginal increase to 391 teams, suggesting the demand position for 3G FTP provision has not significantly changed.

The PPS identifies that the Huntingdon and St Neots analysis areas each have an existing shortfall of one 3G FTP, with the remaining current FTP shortfall (equivalent to one pitch) split across all analysis areas. New provision provided at Sawtry Village Academy is anticipated to primarily help meet demand from the North West and West. The remaining theoretical shortfall of two pitches is therefore expected to be best met via new provision in Huntingdon, and a further pitch in the St Neots or St Ives analysis areas - each of which demonstrate smaller levels of unmet demand for a 3G FTP.

Consultation on the theoretical shortfall reveals there are aspirations amongst local clubs for two 3G FTPs within Huntingdon; one at The David Wilson Homes Ground (originally identified in the 2019 LFFP, and at an advanced stage of development), and another at Huntingdon Town FC. Each proposal has prepared a programme of use based on local needs/consultation which demonstrate that needs are likely to be sufficient to support two 3G FTPs. Two projects are therefore identified for Huntingdon. As this exceeds the PPS findings, and is in excess of the 38:1 FA Training Demand Model, each project will need to demonstrate sufficient demand to warrant investment and support for its development.

In addition to the shortfall of full size 3G FTPs, one is anticipated to require replacement in the near future; at One Leisure Huntingdon.

All of the full-size FTPs are available for community use and on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play).

The geographic spread of existing facilities is evenly spread when considering the demand from each area. There are no FTPs in the West analysis area, however this is due to the demand from this area being the lowest based on local team numbers.

Over the lifetime of the Local Football Facility Plan, changes in demand are likely to impact upon future facilities needs. The FA has seen unprecedented growth in football over the last five years, particularly in the youth and women & girls game. Overall participation is estimated to grow by 3% year on year, equating to an additional 88 teams by 2030, of which 43 will come from women and girls. This would represent the equivalent of an additional two 11v11 3G FTPs. These are included within the priority project list as growth projects, with the need to identify suitable sites if/when these growth estimations are realised. Some of the anticipated growth is likely to be associated with population growth as well as participation growth, and therefore opportunities to enhance provision to support areas of growth are recommended.

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified. Each was selected based upon a rationale of delivering access to 3G FTP training and match play provision in areas identified as having existing shortfalls:

The Football Foundation is on a mission to transform the quality of grass football pitches across England, because great facilities enhance physical and mental wellbeing, strengthen communities and empower people. The quality of football pitches is a huge issue for community football; 150,000 matches were postponed due to poor pitches during the last full football season. We are therefore on a mission to improve 20,000 grass pitches across England.

The Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund is a £21m fund that provides eligible clubs and leagues with a tapered six-year grant to help them sustain pitches already at a 'good' level and enhance pitches that are either considered 'poor' or 'basic'. In order to be eligible, clubs and leagues must use the PitchPower app to assess their pitches. This provides a detailed assessment report with recommendations on improving the quality of grass pitches. The PitchPower app is available to all pitch owners as a way to assess grass pitch quality and gain access to grass pitch improvement recommendations. See Football Foundation | PitchPower

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.

Through the use of PitchPower we are able to identify the demand for investment into new or additional machinery and equipment and see this as an important step towards sustainability for the voluntary sector. Ensuring clubs and leagues can maintain their own sites, supplemented by contracted out major works (e.g. aeration) is potentially a more cost effective approach in the long term.

While the education sector (23.8%) and local authorities (51.8%) are still the principal asset owners of grass pitches and have the heaviest reliance for affiliated matches, clubs / leagues own or maintain an increasing share and we will continue to prioritise investment into sites that are maintained by clubs or leagues.

PitchPower has allowed all club or league owned and leased sites - as well as school and parish/town council facilities - to apply for funding to improve grass pitch maintenance. In Huntingdonshire, the following sites have secured Grass Pitch Maintenance Funding.

• Brampton Memorial Playing Field (Brampton Spartans FC)
• Buckden Recreation Ground (Buckden Junior FC)
• Eaton Sports Ground (Eaton Socon FC)
• Ernulf Academy (Eynesbury Rovers FC)
• Great Gransden Sports and Recreation Ground (Gransden Youth FC)
• Great Paxton Recreation Ground (Great Paxton Colts FC)
• Greenfields (Sawtry Sports and Leisure Association)
• Hemingford Pavilion (Hemingford United FC)
• Hinchingbrooke School (Aces Academies Trust)
• Jubilee Park (Huntingdon Town FC)
• Little Paxton Hub (The Little Paxton Community Hub)
• One Leisure St Ives Outdoor (St Ives Rangers FC)
• Priory Park (Priory Parkside FC)
• Ramsey Cricket Club (Ramsey Town FC)
• Stilton Village Playing Fields (Stilton United Colts FC)
• The David Wilson Homes Ground (Godmanchester Rovers FC)
• Tom Jones Memorial Fields (Ramsey Colts Football Development FC)
• Warboys Sports Field (Warboys Colts FC)

Eight of these sites were identified in the PPS as having poor or standard quality pitches. The aim now should be to get the pitches up to the 'good' standard and work to sustain them.

The remaining sites identified within the PPS as providing poor or standard quality pitches are:

• Alconbury Sports and Social Club
• Bluntisham Village Hall & Recreation Ground
• Fenstanton FC
• Leading Drove
• St Neots Rugby Club
• Coneygear Park

Opportunity should be explored to improve the condition of the grass pitches to maximise playing capacity and quality, therefore alleviating identified shortfalls. This will result in quality improvements to a further 9 pitches.

Fenstanton FC is excluded from the priority project list due to regular flooding which occurs on the site. The pitches are therefore not considered a priority for maintenance or drainage, which would be insufficient at resolving issues caused by flooding.

The next step is to ensure that all pitches have a baseline quality assessment completed via PitchPower.

Five priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PitchPower where available, or alternatively via the PPS where PitchPower data isn't available. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites in poor condition and/or experiencing overplay.

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 AGPs 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.

The PPS has undertaken an assessment of ancillary facility quality at sites across Huntingdonshire, considering the levels of use and therefore requirements for suitable facilities to support participation. It was determined that the following facilities should be included within the LFFP as priorities to consider:

• Bluntisham Village Hall & Recreation Ground
• Buckden Recreation Ground
• Fenstanton Football Club
• Greenfields
• Sapley Park
• Warboys Sports Field

Although several sites are identified as lacking ancillary provision, these are omitted from the priority project list due to limited demand for such facilities in comparison to the sites identified above.

Six 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, the audiences and the various facility types they relate to.

Research suggests that small-sided players in teams and leagues, and in organised 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 AGP 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.

Whilst our priorities will always be football led, we believe Small sided facilities provide a good opportunity to collaborate with other sports to deliver high quality spaces for people to play recreational sport. This will be achieved via our PlayZones Programme:

Football Foundation PlayZone Programme

PlayZones are modern, safe, and engaging facilities that are designed for recreational football and at least one other sport. There are a range of facility types to meet the needs of different sports.

Through this programme we want to address stubborn inequalities in activity levels and access to sports facilities within four priority groups:

• Lower socio-economic groups
• Women and girls
• Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions
• Ethnically diverse communities

Our research also shows us that when it comes to small sided facilities one size does not fit all and localised design and ownership will yield the greatest engagement from under represented groups. Activation is also as important as the facility itself for these groups. This section of the LFFP will concentrate on suitable places for PlayZones.

Suitable places will be identified through a combination of mapping, to include identification of our priority groups and crossover with other multi-sport priorities. Further community engagement will be required for design and delivery. Where some engagement has already been carried out projects will appear in the project list.

All projects will then need to be developed by a cross sector consortium where partners who understand and represent the people and the place come together to drive the project forward and create access and opportunities for priority groups.

Our research shows us that community engagement is the key to developing great small sided facilities and that we shouldn't try and identify sites without first identifying two key things:

• Key priority places within the local authority
• Key priority groups within the local authority

Once these two things are identified local community engagement is required to identify potential sites for investment. In Huntingdonshire, the starting point for priority places, identified through previous Local Authority work around deprivation and inactivity, is:

• North Huntingdonshire (Oxmoor)
• Yaxley
• St Neots
• Ramsey

The key priority groups in Huntingdonshire are:

• Lower socio-economic groups
• Women and girls
• Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions
• Ethnically diverse communities

This priority group of places and people will be ratified throughout the process and the next step is to now begin community engagement to help identify where the specific sites are that will help to tackle inequalities and provide spaces for activity.

A range of local agencies and local football clubs were invited to participate in the LFFP consultation. Those that contributed are listed below:

• Huntingdonshire District Council
• Huntingdonshire County FA
• Living Sport
• Sport England
• National Governing Bodies of sport, including:
  • England Hockey
  • England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
  • Rugby Football Union (RFU)
  • Rugby Football League (RFL)
• Brampton FC
• Buckden Juniors FC
• Farcet United FC
• Fenstanton Youth FC
• Godmanchester Rovers Youth FC
• Godmanchester Town FC
• Gransden Youth FC
• Hemingford Colts FC
• Huntingdon Town FC
• Little Paxton Colts FC
• Moorhen FC
• Needingworth Colts FC
• Ramsey Colts FC
• Sawtry FC
• Somersham Town Youth FC
• St Ives Town FC
• St Neots Town Youth FC
• Warboys Town FC