Local Football Facility Plan Knowsley

Knowsley is located in the Merseyside region. The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 148,560. This is expected to rise to 157,602 by 2039.

Knowsley's ethnic composition is primarily White (97%) and this is higher than the national average (85.4%).

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

Knowsley is ranked 3rd most deprived out of 39 Local Authorities in the North West, and 39th out of 326 English Local Authorities.

Levels of inactivity in Knowsley (33%) are above that of the North West region (27 %) and nationally (26%)

Local authority

Knowsley's Playing Pitch Strategy was finalised in 2018. The key findings and stated overarching priorities are to improve the quality of natural turf grass football pitches and increase the overall stock of 3G FTPs across the area.

County football association

Knowsley is covered by Liverpool County FA which provides governance and development support to all aspects of local football including coaches, referees, volunteers, clubs and leagues; supporting football for all. The County FA has a designated facilities investment lead officer who works to ensure the right facilities are located in the right locations.

Football Foundation

The Regional Engagement Manager and Regional Technical Project Manager at the Football Foundation work collaboratively with the County FA to provide pre-application support to priority projects for potential investment.

Sport England

Has a network of planning managers who have a statutory role in the planning system to protect playing fields and provide consultation responses to planning applications relating to sporting facilities . They also play a key role in strategic planning for sports facilities, providing advice and support to local authorities to assess need for facilities in their local area.

Professional club community organisations (CCOs)

These continue to expand and enhance their range of community delivery, offering a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). Both the Liverpool Foundation and Everton in the Community run a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

Volair, a Council owned and controlled organisation, is the key leisure operator in Knowsley. It currently operates five key venues across the area, including key strategic sites; Prescot Soccer Centre and Kirkby Leisure Centre.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Knowsley. 13 individuals (representing 11 local organisations) were consulted. These include:

• Knowsley Council
• Volair
• Prescot Cables FC
• Knowsley School Sport Partnership

(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. Knowsley has a total of 325 teams, which is higher than local areas of a similar size.

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

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Knowsley, 11 clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2017-18 affiliation data) are:

• Huyton Junior – 53 teams
• Mags – 40 teams
• Mini Huyton Soccer– 30 teams
• Kingsthorne – 23 teams
• Whiston Junior – 23 teams
• AFC Kirkby – 14 teams
• Knowsley Youth – 14 teams
• Knowsley South – 13 teams

Prescot Cables FC is the highest level football club within Knowsley. It competes at Step 4 (Level 8) of the English Football Pyramid.

One league operates in Knowsley. It offers competitive opportunities for many mini soccer players.

Knowsley Junior Football Development League – 87 teams– central venue (Prescot Soccer Centre)

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration in Knowsley due to teams playing in the Walton & Kirkdale, St Helens & Rainhill and Merseyside & Halewood Junior leagues.

Disability football

There are 9.4million people in England with a long-standing limiting disability, illness or condition which equates to 18% of the population – almost one in five. Football opportunity 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 Knowsley there are two 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. Knowsley has six FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At two, Knowsley’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 clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls league is the LCFA Girls League and matches are played on a central venue basis (in Liverpool). It is expected to grow provision in future years. The local adult female league is the LCFA Womens League; its matches are played on a home and away across Merseyside. It too is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA regional talent clubs (RTCs) are Everton Ladies (based in Childwall) and Liverpool Women (based in Walton). 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 teams are Everton and Liverpool Ladies both of 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:

• Prescot Soccer Centre
• Kirkby Leisure Centre
• Lord Derby Academy

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 is currently one futsal team in Knowsley. It plays in the Blackpool and Fylde Futsal League. It is a priority for the County 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 four FA Just Play centres in Knowsley. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Active Soccer. Walking football and Just Play are areas that the County FA has prioritised for further growth and development.

Informal football

Informal football is played in local parks and green spaces – it is free, open access and often played spontaneously (normal clothing is worn). Common examples include a kick-about at a local park or on a multi-use games area (MUGA).

The key strengths of local football in Knowsley include Adult Male, Youth Male and Mini Soccer provision and it is recommend that these are sustained and encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist, these include Adult Female, Youth Female and Disability provision

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

1. Adult Female
2. Youth Female
3. Disability Football
4. Adult Male
5. Futsal

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

Additionally, each priority project that progresses to a funding application via the Football Foundation will produce a detailed ‘site development plan’ specifying all football development activity, usage and key partner engagement.

This section reviews existing football facility assets in Knowsley. 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.

The national ‘Mini Pitch’ programme delivers small 3G FTPs at primary school sites to provide a high quality introduction to football and get children more physically active. While mini pitches are reviewed in this section, they are not included in the demand and supply analysis for 3G FTPs.

FA data states that there are currently six full-sized (11v11) 3G FTPs in Knowsley, alongside 11 small sided 3G FTPs. The Knowsley Playing Pitch Strategy (2018) identifies a current shortfall of two and a future shortfall of three full-sized 3G FTPs.

The existing full-sized 3G FTPs in Knowsley are located at:

• Halewood Academy
• Kirkby Leisure Centre
• Lord Derby Academy
• Prescot Soccer & Leisure Centre
• Liverpool FC Academy
• Finch Farm Training Ground - Everton FC

The following site is already being developed:

• All Saints Academy

Four of the six full-sized FTPs are available for community use. Provision at Liverpool FC Academy and Finch Farm Training Ground (Everton FC) is not available for community use. All full-sized FTPs are on the FA Register (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play).

Local consultation reveals common issues with high pricing and low availability and it is recommended that these issues are addressed.

Six priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Undersupply was calculated using the FA 3G FTP demand and supply model and aligned with the PPS (1:42). Each site was selected based upon a rationale of good access, high population, geographic spread and existing facility quality.

Of the six projects highlighted, three relate to resurfacing existing FTP provision. Sites identified for FTP resurfacing are;

• Lord Derby Academy
• Halewood Academy
• Prescot Soccer Centre (including eight small sided 3G FTPs)

Three potential project locations are highlighted for Huyton and two for Prescot, Whiston & Cronton. Each of these areas has a shortfall of one full-sized 3G FTP.

The three potential project locations highlighted for Huyton (from which one will be chosen) are:

• Jubilee Park (Huyton Juniors FC)
• Knowsley Leisure & Culture Park
• Knowsley Community College

The two potential project locations highlighted for Prescot, Whiston & Cronton (from which one will be chosen) are;

• Prescot Cables FC
• St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic School

Further to this, there is an identified future need of one full size FTP in Halewood. Halewood Leisure Centre is identified as the preferential location for the delivery of a 3G FTP.

Playing fields are one of the most important resources for sport in England. All football players should have the opportunity to play on good quality grass pitches. However, FA data shows that 63% of pitches in England are poor / low standard and one in six games is cancelled. As such, poor pitch quality is consistently cited as the number one issue for players.

The priority is, therefore, to sustainably improve grass pitch quality across all main pitch owners (local authorities, education establishments and clubs). However, the level of maintenance required to obtain good quality standards is regularly affected by restricted budgets and limited knowledge / training. Compaction and grass coverage are two key causes of poor quality pitches. Both are commonly treated via a maintenance driven solution (and do not necessarily require costly drainage schemes).

Playing fields are also a valuable resources for informal play and open-access sites are encouraged but, for many, problems such as dog fouling and vandalism mean that they need to be protected with mitigation measures such as fencing.

Often, 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.

PPS data indicates that there are currently 11 grass pitch sites in Knowsley with three or more full-size pitch equivalents containing 64 grass pitches. Of these, 17 are considered to be good quality, 17 are of standard quality and 30 poor quality. It should be noted that some of the good quality pitches are located at Liverpool FC Academy and Finch Farm Training Ground (Everton FC) and are therefore unavailable for community use.

In addition to the above, three sites are identified which have fewer than three pitch equivalents but are considered to be strategically important for football. They are: Fredrick Lunt Playing Field, Halewood Town Academy and Windy Arbor.

Aside from the aforementioned projects, a need has been identified for a maintenance bank to service both natural grass and 3G FTP pitches across Knowsley.

Local consultation confirms the common issues with poor quality playing surfaces and it is recommended that this is addressed .

11 priority projects for potential investment have been identified (including a grass pitch and 3G FTP maintenance bank). Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS data and qualified by local partners. Prioritisation was informed by consultation based upon a core rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition and that were currently/potentially best utilised.

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.

Five priority projects for potential investment have therefore been identified. Each project has either no facilities or was deemed to have an unsuitable pavilion:

Local consultation reveals there is one indoor facility that requires improvement to develop small-sided football. The potential project is located at Kirkby High School.

Four 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, a high proportion of people from lower social economic groups and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

Sport England recreational football mapping suggests that the urban areas in the vicinity of Prescot, Kirkby and Huyton may have a particularly high demand for informal football from their local populations.

Following local consultation, no locations have been identified to support small-sided informal football.

• Clerk - Prescot Town Council
• Clerk - Halewood Town Council
• Secretary - Prescot Cables FC
• Secretary - Huyton Juniors FC
• Secretary - Berkeley Juniors FC
• Secretary - Halewood Town Academy
• Secretary - Quarry Green Junior Football Club
• Secretary - Knowsley South FC
• Football Development Officer - Volair
• Public Open Spaces Manager - Knowsley Council
• Technical and Quality Services - Knowsley Council
• Principle Regeneration Officer - Knowsley Council