Local Football Facility Plan Lambeth

Lambeth is in the Greater London region.

The current population of the authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 327,910. This is expected to rise to 362,216 by 2039.

Lambeth is ranked eighth out of 33 LAs in the region, and 22 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Lambeth's ethnic composition is primarily white (57.09%). This figure is significantly lower than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of the population represented by the BAME community is 42.91%. This is significantly above the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The Active Lambeth Physical Activity and Sports Strategy (2015-2020) aims to encourage active lifestyles through increasing physical activity and sport in the borough. Taking this approach Lambeth will deliver it's physical activity and sports strategy over the next five years developing and improving access to activities and facilities to increase participation. The strategy aims to ensure that 'all people in Lambeth are physically active in their daily lives'. This vision is expanded further through in the form of the following aims:

• Everyone has the confidence and capability to be physically active.
• The built and natural environment contributes to a culture of people being active in their daily lives.
• Residents live within 15 minutes of an exciting and accessible opportunity to be physically active and play sport.
• Lambeth Council and its partners are supporting a thriving economy of community groups, social enterprises and business are working together to help people be active.

The last Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was produced in 2015. The key findings and stated overarching priorities are to increase the provision of both full size and small sided 3G FTPs. Further to this the PPS also highlights the number of underused Redgra pitches across the borough and notes that conversion of these to artificial grass would help to meet demand for football. In respect of grass pitches the PPS states that there is high demand among all age groups within the borough and that management plans are required for key strategic sites which include Clapham Common, Brockwell Park and Ruskin Park.

LB Lambeth's Outdoor Sports Facilities Strategy (2015-2020) outlines a vision 'to create a high quality and sustainable outdoor facility offers which meets community need, increases participation in sport, and provides accessible and inclusive activities for all Lambeth citizens as part of an active lifestyle.’

The strategy aims to make Lambeth a more vibrant and healthy place to live and work, by providing local opportunity for people to get active, get healthy and get involved. The main stated aims are to:

• Improve access to and participation in sport and physical activity for Lambeth residents including the most deprived communities supporting the creation of safer, stronger and healthier communities.
• Develop a strong club/group network and wider partnerships which provide access to good quality and accessible sport and physical activity.
• Support the improved management of all sports facilities in Lambeth.

The three main themes of the strategy are to:

• Protect outdoor sports facilities where they are needed to meet demand, or provide clear evidence for their relocation.
• Enhance outdoor sports facilities through improving quality, access and management of sites.
• Invest in the new sports facilities where needed to meet current or future needs.
  

County football association

Lambeth is covered by the London 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). Fulham FC Foundation, Chelsea FC Foundation and Palace For Life Foundation (Crystal Palace FC) all run a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

GLL is the key leisure operator in Lambeth. It currently manages 12 sites which include small sided 3G FTPs at Brixton Recreation Centre and Ferndale Community Sports Centre. GLL also manages the full-sized 3G FTP at Archbishops Park along with grass pitches at a range of Lambeth park sites including the nine full size grass pitches at Clapham Common.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Lambeth. 32 individuals (representing 27 local organisations) were spoken to. Agencies consulted include:

• LB Lambeth
• Lambeth Tigers FC
• Football Beyond Borders
• Black Prince Trust
• Clapham Common Management Advisory Committee
• St Matthews Project

(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. Lambeth has a total of 104 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 Lambeth, three clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest clubs in the borough (based upon 2017-18 affiliation data) are:

• Clapham Rangers - 20 teams
• Lambeth Tigers - 13 teams
• Mighty Royale Elite - 10 teams
• Santley United - 7 teams
• Unity FC - 6 teams

Leagues

Three leagues operate in Lambeth. They offer competitive opportunity for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. While there are no specific league opportunities for disability football within Lambeth, suitable provision is made in neighbouring boroughs.

The largest local leagues with a presence in/across Lambeth (2017-18) include:

• London County Saturday Youth League – 54 teams– home and away
• Tandridge Youth League – 91 teams– home and away
• Greater London Womens Football league – 54 teams home and away
• Southern Sunday - 64 teams home and away and one central venue at Clapham Common

The County FA reports considerable cross boundary migration to/from Lambeth primarily due to teams migrating outwards to play in the neighbouring boroughs of Wandsworth and Southwark.

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 Lambeth several football sessions are run 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. Lambeth has two FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 12, Lambeth’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 London County Saturday Youth League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to sustain its provision in future years, however, the London County FA is working with other leagues to enhance opportunity and infrastructure for female football. The local adult female league is the Greater London Women's Football League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It too is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Millwall which is located in Bermondsey, Southwark. 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 Chelsea FC 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:

• Powerleague Vauxhall (located at Black Prince Community Hub)
• Powerleague Nine Elms (located in neighboruing Wandsworth)
• Play Football Brixton

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced, small sided team game that is widely played across the world. Typically it is played on an indoor surface with hockey-sized goals and a size 4 football with reduced ball bounce. It is the FA’s aim to ensure that futsal is available across the country.

There are currently no futsal teams in Lambeth. It is a priority for the County FA to deliver local futsal opportunity for all 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 two FA Just Play centres in Lambeth. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of organisations including LB Lambeth and GLL. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth.

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 Lambeth is played across the borough. Clapham Common, Brockwell Park, Kennington Park, Streatham Common and Ruskin Park are key, heavily utilised, site locations.

The key strengths of local football in Lambeth include adult and youth affiliated provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist, these include youth female football and affiliated futsal.

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

1. Women's and girls provision
2. Futsal
3. Small sided recreational provision
4. Disability

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 Lambeth. It identifies current issues and presents opportunities for improvements, including a list of priority projects for potential investment.

Local assets and opportunities have been reviewed in line with four investment priorities:

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

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

While 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.

There is currently one large (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Lambeth - at Archbishops Park. Its dimensions 84m x 58m and it can be utilised for match play set up as either three 5v5 pitches (mini soccer U7/U8), two 7v7 (mini soccer 7v7) sized pitches or one youth (U13/14) 11v11 pitch. It is also heavily used for affiliated training and recreational pay and play football.

In addition, there are 16 small-side 3G FTPs in Lambeth:

• Black Prince Community Hub - Powerleague Vauxhall (two 5v5, one 7v7)
• Brixton Recreation Centre (one 5v5)
• Park Campus Academy (one 5v5)
• Streatham Wells Primary School (one 5v5)
• Dunraven School (one 5v5)
• Durand Academy (one 5v5)
• Myatt Fields Park (one 5v5)
• Ferndale Community Sports Centre (four 5v5)
• La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls School (one 7v7)
• Larkhall Park (one 7v7) - this pitch was funded by the Football Foundation and installed in 2006. It is not staffed and is open access.
• Evelyn Grace Academy (one 9v9)

There is also a significant number of multi sport AGPs and MUGAs in Lambeth. These are heavily used for recreational football.
The Authority's PPS was produced in 2015 and has not been updated. As a result, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using FA 3G demand modelling which, in Lambeth, identifies that the demand for recreational football is higher than that for affiliated demand. Based upon the FA model, there is an assessed shortfall of eight full-sized 3G FTPs (or equivalents) relative to assessed demand.

All of the abovementioned pitches are available for community use. The large 3G FTP at Archbishops Park is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that it has been quality checked and can be used for football match play). Due to land constraints within Lambeth it is challenging to find and secure space for FA match play compliant 3G FTPs. Nonetheless, it is strongly recommended that any future 3G FTP developments (full size and/or small sided) are assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven; there are provision gaps across the borough despite high levels of population, significant planned regeneration & housing growth and high levels of deprivation. Gaps in provision are especially prevalent in the Clapham, Brixton, West Norwood and Streatham areas of the borough, because of the limited available space an approach based upon developing predominantly small sided (rather than full sized) 3G FTPs is proposed to help alleviate the borough-wide shortfall. Clapham Common is the exception to this; there is space on this site to install a full-sized 3G FTP.

Local consultation confirms the limited availability and opportunity for match play on 3G and the recommendations in this plan are designed to address this.

Seven priority projects for potential investment are identified. Whilst these do not meet the identified full-sized 3G FTP shortfall (based on recreational demand) it is recommended that future iterations of the plan address this if and when land/development opportunities become available.

Sites were selected based upon the availability of space to develop, servicing densely populated local areas, achieving a geographic spread and their potential accessibility to large numbers of people from lower social economic groups:

There are four grass pitch sites in Lambeth with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 14 grass pitches. Of the four, none are considered to offer good quality pitches, two are standard quality and two; poor quality (2015 PPS).

Of the four key pitch sites referenced, two are being prioritised for improvement. This will positively affect the quality of a total of 11 pitches.

Two priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and qualified by local partners. Prioritisation was informed by local partners with the rationale of selecting sites that are, or have the potential to be, well-utilised and reflect the strategic focus of the borough on participation:

Of the four key grass pitch sites in Lambeth with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but of strategic importance), one site has suitable changing rooms, two require improvement/replacement.

There is currently no changing provision at Brockwell Park, however, grass provision at this site was not deemed to be strategically important - primarily due to the topography of the site which includes a steep gradient on the grass pitches, which ultimately limits usage. The priority for this site is the potential conversion of a pre-existing Redgra AGP. More detail is provided in the 3G football turf pitches (FTPs) section of this report.

Two 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 no indoor facilities currently require improvement to develop small sided football.

Four potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in an area with limited recreational provision with high local demand for informal football.

Following local consultation, and assisted by the Sport England green spaces mapping tool six locations are identified to support small sided informal football. Here, the rationale is based on locating provision at popular local parks and/or open green spaces with suitable space/areas to increase informal 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:

• Acting Park Manager - Myatt's Field's Park Project
• Business Manager - Crown Lane Primary School
• Chair - Friends of Hillside Park
• Chairman - Furzedown United FC
• Chief Executive Officer - Fulham FC Foundation
• Chief Executive Officer -Streatham Youth & Community Trust (SYCT)
• Club Representative - Academy Dynamos (survey response)
• Club Representative - Afewee Urban FC (survey response)
• Club Representative - Clapham Athletic (survey response)
• Club Representative - Wanderers FC
• Community Manager - Black Prince Trust
• Coordinator - Lambeth Primary School League
• Deputy Chief Executive Officer - Palace for Life Foundation
• Director - Football Beyond Borders
• Football Development Manager - Amateur Football Alliance
• Football Development Officer - London Football Association
• Head of Community Development - Chelsea FC Foundation
• Head of Delivery - London Football Association
• Head of Operations - Fulham FC Foundation
• Head of Parks and Leisure Services - LB Lambeth
• Living Space Centre Manager - Bankside Open Spaces Trust
• London Community Manager - Chelsea FC Foundation
• Manager - St Matthews Project
• Manager - Triangle Adventure Playground
• Relationship Manager - London Sport
• Chairman - Clapham Rangers
• Secretary - Southern Sunday League
• Secretary - Clapham Little League
• Senior Parks & Sports Development Officer - LB Lambeth
• Sports Development Officer - LB Lambeth
• Strategic Director - Black Prince Trust
• Treasurer - Clapham Common Management Advisory Committee