Local Football Facility Plan Mansfield

Mansfield is located in the East Midlands region. The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 108,576. This is expected to rise to 118,414 by 2039.

Mansfield’s ethnic composition is primarily white (97.18%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Mansfield’s population represented by the BAME community is 2.82%. This is below the national average (14.6%).

Mansfield Town FC is the highest level football club in the District. It competes in the EFL League Two.

Local authority

The Mansfield Corporate Plan (2016-2019) identifies one of its key priorities as 'Supporting people to live longer through healthier lifestyles, encouraging active lifestyles through increased participation in sport, promoting tobacco cessation and tackling obesity'.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was adopted in 2016. The stated overarching priorities are as follows:

• Maximise the potential for sports development to provide positive contributions towards further regeneration on the District.
• Use sport to help support the health and well-being benefits for residents, including increasing participation in sport.
• Maintain and improve access to good quality, community accessible sports provision and open space for residents.
• Support the shared connections for provision between neighbouring local authority areas such as Ashfield District, Newark and Sherwood District and also areas slightly further afield such as Worksop and Chesterfield.
• Better understand and support the multi-use of grass and artificial grass pitches.
• Explore how sites can be better sustained into the future through a partnership approach.

County football association

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

Football Foundation

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

Sport England

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

Professional club community organisations (CCOs)

These offer a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). Both Nottingham Forest Community Trust and Mansfield Town Football In the Community (FITC) run a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

Mansfield District Leisure Trust is the key leisure operator in Mansfield. It operates four leisure centres across the District, although none are considered to be strategically important for football.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Mansfield. Eight individuals (representing six local organisations) were consulted from organisations including:

• Mansfield District Council
• Kickstart Youth League
• Warsop Youth Club

Clubs

There are over 91,000 community football teams in England, spread over an expansive network of clubs and leagues. Mansfield has a total of 145 teams (based upon 2017-18 FA affiliation data), 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 Mansfield, four clubs have more than 10 registered teams, they are (based upon 2017-18 affiliation data):

• Sherwood Colliery - 22 teams
• Woodhouse Colts - 21 teams
• Market Warsop - 15 teams
• Manor - 10 teams

Twenty seven leagues operate in or serve Mansfield. They offer competitive opportunity for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. While there is no specific league opportunity for disability football within Mansfield, suitable provision is made in Nottingham City where the Want 2 Play Central league is based, and Long Eaton the home of the East Midlands Pan Central League. The Nottinghamshire Powerchair League trains in Mansfield but fixtures are played at Nottingham Trent University.

Mansfield largest local leagues (2017-18) include:

• YEL Saturday – 627 teams– home and away
• YEL Sunday – 406 teams– home and away
• Nottinghamshire Girls and Ladies Football League– 154 teams– home and away
• Notts Youth Football League Saturday– 147 teams– home and away
• Notts Youth Football League Sunday– 98 teams– home and away
• Kickstart Youth Football League – 88 teams– Central Venue

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to/from Mansfield much of it due to teams migrating into the area to play in the Kickstart Youth league - from neighbouring authorities Ashfield and Newark & Sherwood.

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 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 Mansfield there are ten football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to sustain 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. Mansfield has one FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At seven, Mansfield’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 adult and girls league is the Nottinghamshire Girls and Ladies League and matches are played on a home and away basis. The league is expected to sustain its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Clubs (RTC) are; Nottingham Forest RTC, Sheffield United Girls RTC and Derby Girls RTC. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads. The nearest Women’s Super League team is Birmingham Ladies 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.

There are no identified local providers for small sided recreational football in Mansfield.

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

There are currently ten futsal teams in Mansfield that play in the Junior Elite Futsal League and Derby Fustal League at key site locations including The Garibaldi School and University of Derby (outside of Nottinghamshire). It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal 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 is currently one FA Just Play Centre in Mansfield. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Manfield Town FITC and Mansfield District Leisure Trust. Walking football and Just Play are formats that the County FA has prioritised for further growth. Other local recreational football programmes include disability turn up and play sessions which are delivered by a range of organisations including Mansfield Town FITC and Nottingham Forest Community Trust.

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).

Informal football is played throughout the Mansfield District and played particularly in the central areas. Titchfield Park is a key heavily used site location.

The key strengths of local football in Mansfield include disability provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist, and there are aspects of football provision that are not as strong as in other local authorities of a similar size, such as affiliated team numbers, youth female provision and the recreational game.

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

1.Walking football

2.Futsal

3.Increase the number and accessibility of opportunities for girls within the Wildcat programme

4.Training facilities to cater for increasing demand within the mini soccer and youth game

5.Facilities that bring Mansfield clubs back in to the Authority to play

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

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

This section reviews existing football facility assets in Mansfield. 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:

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.

There are two existing full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Mansfield situated at:

• Brunts Academy
• Mansfield Town FC (The Radford and Hymas Academy)

Additionally, there are currently four small-sided 3G FTPs in Mansfield located at:

• Debdale Park Sports and Recreational Club
• Mansfield Rugby Union Football Club
• The Garbibaldi School
• Vision West Nottinghamshire College

Mansfield's PPS was adopted in 2016. It indicates a shortfall of one full size 3G FTP in the area. This matches the FA training model (1:38) assessment which also estimates a shortfall of one full-sized 3G FTP in Mansfield (rounded down from the total requirement for 3.8 full sized 3G FTPs).

Brunts Academy and Mansfield Town FC (The Radford and Hymas Academy) are both available for community use and are both on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It should however be noted that the carpet at Brunts Academy is nearing the end its expected surface lifespan and unless resurfaced/replaced within the next two years, is likely to come off the FA register.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is considered to be even relative to football demand. Despite this, there is a need to add to the current supply to meet demand within the central area. Gaps in provision in the north and south of the District but demand is not considered high enough to warrant installation of new 3G FTP provision.

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

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified. Undersupply was calculated using the FA 3G FTP demand and supply model. Sites were selected based upon a rationale of good access, high population, geographic spread, success and quality of existing facilities.

Two projects are identified at Brunts Academy; the existing fiull-sized 3G FTP needs to be resurfaced to enable it to continue to service the high levels of demand it accommodates and retain quality sufficient to allow continued FA registration. Further to this, it was agreed by the local steering group that the Academy is the preferred option for delivery of a second full-sized 3G FTP to develop the venue as a hub site for football in the local area.

The other (small sided) 3G FTP project is a proposed indoor 3G barn at Manor Academy. The School's indoor barn is presently used for sporting and recreational purposes. There is a significant level of footballing demand in the locality and the adjacent site (Manor Park) is the central venue used by the Kickstart Youth League. The School is keen to develop this venue via the installation of a 3G surface to accommodate both affiliated and recreational football demand in an indoor environment.

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.

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.

Currently eight grass pitch sites in Mansfield have three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or have fewer than three pitches but are deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 31 grass pitches.

Of the eight key pitch sites referenced, three have been prioritised for improvement encompassing a total of 16 pitches.

Local consultation shows common issues with poor quality and it is recommended that these are addressed.

Three 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 based upon a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition and that were the 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.

Of the eight key sites with three or more full-size pitch equivalents in Mansfield, seven have suitable changing room pavilions/clubhouses and one has no facilities and requires a new changing pavilion.

The priority project for potential investment is at Manor Academy. It also aligns to the aspirations of North Notts Hockey Club which has outline plans to develop a changing room and clubhouse facility at this venue. The School sits opposite Manor Park Playing Field which is a central venue for the Kickstart Youth League; this site has 31 teams which regularly access it for competitive fixtures. It is identified as a potential partnership project to also service demand from Manor Park.

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 reveals one indoor facility that requires improvement to develop small-sided football. This is located at The Shed (Warsop). It has a small sports room which accommodates high levels of informal football.

Two potential opportunities for a MUGA are identified in Mansfield located at; Bellamy Road Estate and Chesterfield Road Park.

The rationale is based on the site being in an area of high urban population with a substantial proportion of people from lower social economic groups and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

Following local consultation, no park and open green spaces are presently identified as having a requirement for improved provision for 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:

• Parks Development Officer - Mansfield District Council
• Sustainable Planning Officer - Mansfield District Council
• Sports Development Officer - Mansfield District Council
• Director - Place & Well-being - Mansfield District Council
• Committee Member - Warsop Youth Club
• Sport Development Officer - West Notts College
• Secretary - Sherwood Colliery FC
• Secretary - Kickstart Youth League