Local Football Facility Plan Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is in the South Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2018 Mid-Year Estimate) is 139,400. This is expected to rise to 151,526 by 2039.

The Isle of Wight is ranked 7th out of 67 LAs in the region, and 81st out of 317 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (97%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of the Isle of Wight’s population represented by the BAME community is 3%. This is substantially below the national average (14.6%).

Local authority

The Isle of Wight Council Corporate Plan (2019-2022) vision is for it to be an inspiring place in which to grow up, work, live and visit. To achieve this, one of the Council's key objectives is to improve the health and wellbeing of residents by providing a variety of high quality sports and leisure facilities.

The Authority is working on its Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) and hopes to have it completed by Summer 2020. It was agreed that the grass pitch ratings derived from the PPS Stage B report can be used to identify which grass pitch sites should be prioritised for funding.

County football association

The Isle of Wight is covered by the Hampshire 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 the Isle of Wight.

Local leisure operator

1Leisure is the key leisure operator on the Isle of Wight. It currently runs three Leisure Centres; Medina, The Heights and Westbridge. There are no 3G facilities at any of the listed sites.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a range of key agencies and community groups in the Isle of Wight. Seven individuals (representing seven local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Isle of Wight Council
• A range of local affiliated clubs
• A number of key schools- see appendix for full details

(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. The Isle of Wight has a total of 174 teams, which is comparable to local areas of a similar size.

The FA is investing to support clubs both on and off the pitch which includes an aim to have a qualified FA coach with every youth team by 2020/21. In addition, it will support 1,000 clubs to create full player pathways from youth to adult teams and develop 150 community football hubs with male and female pathways, disability and recreational playing opportunities.

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In the Isle of Wight, eight clubs have ten or more registered teams. These are:

• Bembridge Youth- 10
• Brading Town Youth- 17
• Downside Youth -12
• Gurnard Youth - 12
• Newport IOW- 15
• Oakfield Youth - 10
• Ryde Saints- 19
• Vectis Youth - 19

Leagues

Three leagues operate in the Isle of Wight, which are listed below. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including girls, youth male and adult male. They are:

• Isle of Wight Saturday Football League 45 teams ( home and away)
• Isle of Wight Saturday Girls Football League 14 teams (central venue)
• Isle of Wight Sunday Youth League 100 teams ( home and away)

The County FA reports limited cross boundary migration to/from the Isle of Wight. Some of its clubs compete on the mainland in league competition playing against predominantly Southampton or Portsmouth based teams.

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.

Disability football is delivered on a County basis in Hampshire. On the Isle of Wight there are three 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. The Isle of Wight has three FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 14, the Isle of Wight’s number of female teams is lower than local areas of a similar size. The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league is the Isle of Wight Saturday Girls Football League in which matches are played on a central venue basis. It expects to grow provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Hampshire County Women’s League. It too plays matches on a home and away basis and expects to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Southampton. 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 Reading 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 Cowes Community College.

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 is one affiliated futsal team on the Isle of Wight and it is a priority for the County FA to grow futsal participation across all ages ranges.

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 the Isle of Wight. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisations such as Arthritico Ryde and Caulkhead Strollers. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities 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 the Isle of Wight is played in a range of locations across the authority area. Well used key sites include Downside Community Centre and Victoria Recreational Ground.

The key strengths of local football in the Isle of Wight include adult male, youth female and youth male football and it is recommended that this is sustained and encouraged to grow further. However, provision gaps include, adult female, disability, recreational football and futsal. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for the Isle of Wight are to:

1. Sustain male youth and adult football
2. Increase the number of womens teams.
3. Grow futsal within the Authority.
4. Increase the number of Just Play centres.
5. Support the development of disability opportunity.

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 the Isle of Wight. It identifies current issues and presents opportunities for improvements, including a list of priority projects for potential investment. Local assets and opportunities have been reviewed in line with four investment priorities:

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

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

While 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.

The only community available full-sized (11v11) 3G FTP on the island is located at Cowes Community College. The Local Authority has plans to develop a further two full sized 3G FTPs which will not require funding via the Football Foundation. These are as follows:

• Camp Hill Prison (Newport): This former prison site is part of a new housing development comprising 1,200 new homes. It currently has a full sized FTP (which was previously used by prison inmates). This has deteriorated over time and is now of poor quality. The ambition is to resurface the facility as part of the development, and create a community sports hub. It is anticipated that the pitch will be managed by the Isle of Wight College, supporting its curricular programmes and being available for community clubs during peak demand periods (evening/weekends). The prison closed in 2013 and it is anticipated that housing development will commence in Autumn 2020. It is not, as yet, clear when the refurbished 3G FTP will be available for community use.
• Ryde Speedway Stadium (Ryde): The Authority has plans to redevelop the site to become a new leisure facility including a 3G FTP. A masterplan is currently being drawn up to determine the exact facility mix. The Authority plans to retain the current sand dressed pitch (which is the only full sized hockey facility on the island) and add a new full sized 3G FTP as part of the redevelopment. It is understood that this new facility will support Ryde Saints, Braiding Town Youth and Oakfield FC.

As noted earlier, the PPS is being developed so there is no current strategy. Demand for full sized 3G FTPs has, thus, been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38.

On the basis that there are 174 teams in the Isle of Wight, there is a requirement for five full sized 3G FTPs. At present there is one (at Cowes Community College). It is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that it has been quality checked and can be used for football match play).

Although the two potential projects listed above will reduce the calculated shortfall by two and address some of the demand in Ryde and Newport/Cowes, there is still a need to ensure that all clubs in these areas are accommodated and to explore possible options in the south of the island. There is a particular need to accommodate junior clubs as they struggle to access facilities to meet training and match play demand. Without the evidence base of an up to date PPS, and based upon the consultation undertaken, it was agreed that new 3G pitches should be located so as to support key areas of population on the Island. These are as follows:

• Central: Newport/Cowes
• East: Ryde
• South: Sandown

Two priority projects are identified. These are in addition to the two listed above which should not require Football Foundation support. As noted, proposals are predicated upon the ambition to cater for the island's key local populations and for its community clubs.

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 12 grass pitch sites in the Isle of Wight with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 35 grass pitches. Of these, four are considered to have good quality pitches and eight (as evidenced by the current PPS Needs assessment Stage B report) have pitches considered to be of standard or poor quality.

The eight sites with standard and poor pitches have been prioritised. Investing in these will result in quality improvements to 25 pitches:

Eight priority sites are identified for potential investment.

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 12 key grass pitch sites in the Isle of Wight with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) eight have suitable changing rooms and four require improvement or replacement.

Four 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 and the various facility types they relate to.

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

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

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

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

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no indoor facilities require improvement to develop small sided football.

One potential opportunity for a MUGA has been identified. Downside Community Centre is located in a deprived area of Newport with high levels of youth anti social behaviour. Upgrading the MUGA on site would enhance its programming to encourage more people to participate in sport, thus hopefully reducing the social issues in the local community.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no parks or open green spaces which 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:

• Isle of Wight Council
• Downside Youth
• Ryde Saints
• Brading Town Youth
• Oakfield Youth
• Rew Valley
• Vectis Youth