Local Football Facility Plan Mendip

Mendip is in the South West region.

The current population of the authority (ONS 2018 Mid-Year Estimate) is 114,881. This is expected to rise to 127,348 by 2039.

Mendip is ranked 15 out of 30 LAs in the region, and 171 out of 317 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Mendip's ethnic composition is primarily white (98%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Mendip’s population represented by the BAME community is 2%. This is much below the national average (14.6%).

Local authority

The Community Strategy for Mendip to 2026 identifies eleven themes, one of which is 'things to do - opportunities for leisure activities and ways to contribute to society'. Amongst the long term aims to improve things to do for residents in Mendip, those pertinent to sport and football include to:

• Identify and plan for future leisure provision, including the maintenance or replacement of existing leisure provision, to meet the future needs of the community.
• Reduce rural disadvantage by increasing opportunities and access to arts provision and sport and leisure initiatives to develop and maintain vibrant rural communities.
• Reduce anti-social behaviour and fear of crime through leisure and cultural activity.

The local authority has no Playing Pitch Strategy in place.

County football association

Mendip is covered by the Somerset 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 Mendip.

Local leisure operator

Fusion is the key leisure operator in Mendip. It currently runs five sites including key sites for football Frome Leisure Centre (full sized floodlit artificial grass pitch), Tor Sports & Leisure Centre (two adult grass pitch equivalents) and Shepton Mallet Leisure Centre (full sized floodlit artificial grass pitch).

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Mendip. Eighteen individuals (representing 17 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Wells City FC and Youth
• Shepton Mallet Sports Youth
• Somerset Activity & Sports 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. Mendip has a total of 166 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 Mendip, six clubs have more than 10 registered teams. They (based upon 2018 -19 affiliation data) are:

• Wells City FC - 22 teams
• Frome Town FC/ Frome Town Ladies FC / Frome Town Robins Youth FC - 16 teams
• Shepton Mallet FC / Shepton Sports Youth FC - 16 teams
• Wessex FC - 16 teams
• Frome Town Youth FC - 13 teams
• Chilcompton Sports - 12 teams

Leagues

Two leagues operate in Mendip. They offer competitive opportunities for youth and adult participants. While there are no specific league opportunities for Women and Girls and Disability within Mendip, there is however suitable provision provided through the Somerset Girls League, Somerset Women’s League and Somerset FA Ability Counts League (all countywide leagues). There is also a County Men’s league (Somerset County League), County U18 League, County Veterans League and County Walking Football League that includes teams from Mendip.

Mendip's largest local leagues (2019-20) include:

• Mid Somerset League (adult men’s) – 41 teams (home and away)
• Midsomer Norton Youth League – 143 teams (home and away)

The County FA reports that there is high level cross boundary migration in Mendip to the Yeovil Saturday League, Yeovil Youth League & Taunton Youth League.

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 Mendip there is one football session 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. Mendip has three FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At nine, Mendip’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 Somerset Girls League and matches are played on a home and away basis. The league is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Somerset County Women’s League and matches are played on a home and away and the league is expected to sustain its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Bristol City which is located in Bristol. However, the Somerset FA Girls Advanced Coaching Centre is located at Strode College in Street. 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 Bristol City 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.

The main key local provider is SoccerSixes Leagues, at Selwood Academy in Frome and Frome Leisure Centre).

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 Mendip area though the County FA runs numerous club and school festivals throughout the season that feed into The FA’s National Futsal Competition. It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal for male, female, youth & 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 two FA Just Play Centres in Mendip. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Second Chance FC. Walking football and Just Play are areas that the County FA has prioritised for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include Disability Turn Up & Play Centres which are delivered by a range of organisations including Somerset FA.

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 Mendip is played particularly in the north and south parts of the local authority. Selwood Academy, Strode College and West Shepton Playing Fields are key site locations that are heavily used.

The key strengths of local football in Mendip include adult male and youth provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist, these include disability, small sided and Just Play and recreational football.

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

1. Sustain & Increase Adult Male 11v11 Football
2. Increase Womens & Girls Participation
3. Increase the number of Recreational Playing Opportunities
4. Grow Disability Provision
5. Increase Futsal Opportunities

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

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

This section reviews existing football facility assets in Mendip. 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.

There are two full sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Mendip. There are currently no small-sided 3G FTPs broadly available for football, though Bath Rugby (Farleigh House) has a 3G surface area used for rugby.

Full sized 3G FTPs are located at:

• Selwood Academy
• Strode College Sports Centre

There is no current PPS and, therefore, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38.

On the basis that there are 150 teams in Mendip, there is a requirement for four full sized 3G FTPs. There are currently two full sized 3G FTPs in Mendip and there is thus a shortfall of two full sized 3G FTPs.

Both of the two existing full sized pitches are available for community use. Both are also on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play).

The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven; the majority are located in the east and south west of the local area. There are facilities gaps in the north, south and central areas and it is recommended that these are addressed. Local consultation reveals no common issues.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified. Each was selected based upon a rationale of good access, geographic spread and existing facility quality. The LFFP Steering Group agreed that given the nature of the local authority and the way in which football is played, one full sized and two small sized 3G FTPs was more appropriate to meet demand for training provision rather than two full sized 3G FTPs.

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 15 grass pitch sites in Mendip with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance), containing 55 grass pitches. Local consultation shows no common issues.

Of the 15 key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that seven of these should be prioritised for improvements. This will result in quality improvements to 16 pitches, with just one to be improved at Well City AFC Athletic Ground as the other is proposed for conversion to a 3G FTP surface.

Seven priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Pitch quality was ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites that had the most pitches and were most well 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 15 key grass pitch sites in Mendip with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), all but one have suitable changing rooms or are serviced by adjacent sites to which they are operationally linked (West Shepton Playing Fields with Shepton Mallet Football Club). Mells Recreation Ground requires some improvement and reconfiguration to the existing building to maximise potential for use of the site.

One priority project for potential investment is 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.

Local consultation reveals that no MUGAs are required to develop small sided football. Two projects for the conversion of MUGAs to 3G surfaces have been identified and are listed in the 3G FTP section, as these facilities will primarily service demand for floodlit training provision, though it should be acknowledged that they may hold opportunity for some use for small sided, recreational and/or informal football.

Following local consultation, one location (Collett Park) has been identified to support small sided informal football. Here, the rationale is based on potential to improve provision in this open space which is reportedly well used already 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:

• Engagement Manager – Football Foundation
• Football Development Manager – Somerset FA
• Neighbourhood Project Officer – Mendip District Council
• Neighbourhood Services Group Manager – Mendip District Council
• Planning Manager - Sport England
• Senior Operations Manager – Somerset Activity & Sports Partnership
• Street FC
• Wells City FC
• Wells City Youth FC
• Frome Town FC
• Frome Town Robins (Youth)
• Shepton Mallet FC
• Shepton Mallet Sports (Youth)
• Frome Town Youth
• Chilcompton Sports
• Chilcompton Sports Youth
• Mells & Vobster United FC (survey)
• Holcombe Youth FC (survey)
• Pilton United FC (survey)
• Frome Collegians (survey)