Local Football Facility Plan Merton

Merton is in the Greater London region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 205,029. This is expected to rise to 228,664 by 2039.

Merton is ranked 27 out of 33 LAs in the region, and 209 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Merton's ethnic composition is primarily white (64.9%). This is significantly lower than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Merton’s population represented by the BAME community is 35.1%. This is significantly above the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

At the time of writing, Merton Council are in the process of producing a new Local Plan for the borough. The new Local Plan will set out the vision and framework for development in the borough for the next 15 years (until 2035). With a predicted growing population the Local Plan seeks to ensure that important infrastructure is in place to support future need such as new homes, employment, healthcare, transport and leisure; while protecting the Borough's important and valued green spaces and heritage assets.

During the development of the Local Plan, the Council will consult local residents, businesses, community groups, key stakeholders and other interested parties. Comments received will inform and influence the shape and format of the Local Plan prior to its adoption in 2021.

The Merton Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) is currently in development (stage D) and will form part of the evidence base required for the new Local Plan. The key findings indicate the largest projected growth in the borough is to be realised in Youth 11v11. Spatially, the sub area with the highest future projected deficit of supply for youth 11v11 pitches is Raynes Park, which is identified as being home to the majority of large clubs. Using the FA’s 1:38 ratio model between full size 3G AGP and the number of football teams in the borough, the PPS also acknowledges that Merton can be said to be undersupplied by two 3G AGPs.”

County football association

Merton is covered by the Surrey 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 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). The Fulham FC Foundation and AFC Wimbledon Foundation both run a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

GLL is the leisure operator in Merton. It currently runs three key sites; Canons Leisure Centre, Morden Leisure Centre, and Wimbledon Leisure Centre and Spa. Canons Leisure Centre has two 5v5 3G FTPs which are well used for recreational football.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Merton. 22 individuals (representing 19 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• LB Merton
• ID Verde
• AFC Wimbledon Foundation
• Tooting & Mitcham Community Sports Club

(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. Merton has a total of 223 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 Merton, six clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Westside Boys (youth) - 19 teams
• Mitcham Park - 18 teams
• Raynes Park Vale Youth FC - 17 teams
• Motspur Park FC - 16 teams
• Tooting & Mitcham Utd Youth - 14 teams
• British Tamil League - 12 teams

Leagues

15 leagues cater form clubs and teams from Merton. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, and youth and adults. While there is no specific league opportunity for disability football in Merton itself, suitable provision is made in neighbouring Elmbridge via the Surrey Football For all League. The larger local leagues (serving football in Merton 2018-19) include:

• Surrey Youth League – 54 teams– home and away
• Surrey Primary Youth League – 10 teams– home and away
• Leatherhead & District Sunday League (adult) – 10 teams– home and away

The County FA reports low levels of cross boundary migration to/from Merton.

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 Merton there are 11 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. Merton has four FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain this activity.

At 17, Merton's number of female teams is comparable to 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 Surrey County Women & Girls League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is not in operation within Surrey currently, however a flexible small sided ladies league is 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 Chelsea FC which is located in Kingston-Upon-Thames. 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 Goals - Wimbledon.

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.

Two futsal teams in Merton play in the FA National Futsal League at key site locations including the Senocke Centre and St Josephs College. 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 are currently no FA Just Play centres in Merton. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Mostyn Gardens Walking Football. Just Play and walking football are County FA priorities for further growth and development.

Informal football

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

Currently, informal football in Merton is played across the borough. Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Park, Prince George's Playing Fields, Figges Marsh and Three Kings Piece are key well-used site locations.

The key strengths of local football in Merton include male adult male open age, boys youth and recreational small sided provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However gaps in provision include adult/youth female and recreational provision. It is, therefore, recommended that the future football development priorities for Merton are:

1. Adult/youth female 11v11 provision and small sided
2. Just Play provision - adult male and female
3. Female disability (youth and adult)

The facilities required to drive and 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 Merton. 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 Merton, These are both located at Tooting & Mitcham Community Sports Club.

There are also 14 small-sided 3G FTPs in Merton:

• Canons Leisure Centre (one 5v5)
• Wimbledon Goals Soccer Centre (ten 5v5 and one 7v7)
• Haslemere Primary School (one 5v5)
• Lavender Park (one 5v5)

Merton is also home to a significant number of multi sport AGPs and MUGAs. These are heavily used for recreational football. As noted earlier, the authority's draft PPS identifies a shortfall of two full-sized 3G FTPs to service affiliated training demand. For the purposes of LFFP development, demand for full-sized 3G FTPs has been calculated applying FA 3G demand modelling. This identifies that demand for recreational football is higher than that for the affiliated game. Based on the FA's recreational demand assessment there is an assessed current shortfall of five (rounded up from 4.75) full-sized 3G FTPs (or equivalents).

The majority of the abovementioned full-sized and small-sided 3G FTPs are available for community football use. One of those at the Tooting & Mitcham Community Sports Club is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that it has been quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that other existing 3G FTPs and any future 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 and density of population and significant planned regeneration and housing growth. Provision gaps are especially prevalent in the north, east and west of the borough. Local consultation confirms the limited availability and opportunity for match play on 3G and the recommendations in this plan are designed to address this.

Four priority projects for potential investment are identified. Whilst these will not wholly 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 opportunity becomes available.

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, many 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 13 grass pitch sites in Merton with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 54 grass pitches. Of these, 12 are considered to have standard quality pitches, and one is of poor quality.

Of the 13 key pitch sites referenced above, five have been prioritised for improvements, this will positively affect a total of 26 pitches.

Local consultation confirms the common issues with pitch quality and it is recommended that these are addressed.

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and ratified by local partners. NB these quality ratings will need to be further ratified as part of the current PPS study. Prioritisation was informed by local partners based upon a rationale of selecting sites that are, or have the potential to be, well-utilised and reflect the strategic focus of LB Merton in terms of growing participation:

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 13 key grass pitch sites in Merton with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but of strategic importance) nine have suitable changing rooms and four require improvement/replacement.

In addition to these, Tooting and Mitcham Community Sports Club has been included as a venue in need of improvement.

Five 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 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 presently require improvement to develop small sided football.

This plan suggests that five MUGAs are required to support the development of small sided football. Proposed sites are located in area with high population density, relatively high proportions of people from lower social economic groups, limited green space and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

Following local consultation, and assisted by the Sport England green spaces mapping tool three locations have been identified to support small sided informal football. Here, the rationale is based on highly popular local parks and 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:

• Area Director (London & South East) - StreetGames
• Chairman - Old Wimbledonians FC
• Chairman - Friends of Wimbledon Park
• Chief Executive Officer - Fulham FC Foundation
• Club Representative - Raynes Park Tigers (via survey)
• Club Representative - Raynes Park Vale FC
• Club Representative - St Martins FC
• Consultant - (on behalf of) Tooting & Mitcham Community Sports Club
• Contract Manager - ID Verde
• Engagement Manager - Football Foundation
• Football Development Manager - Surrey FA
• Director - AFC Wimbledon Foundation
• Leisure & Culture Development Manager – LB Merton
• Neighbourhood Investment Officer - Clarion Housing
• Parks Manager – LB Merton
• Planning Manager – LB Merton
• Planning (regen) – LB Merton
• Representative - Friends of Haydons Recreation Ground
• Secretary - Mitcham Park FC
• Secretary - Morden Little League
• Secretary - Motspur Park FC
• Secretary - Old Wimbledonians FC
• Secretary - Westside Boys Youth