Local Football Facility Plan North Lincolnshire

Demographics for the area can be seen below:

Local authority

North Lincolnshire Council’s Council Plan 2022-25 highlights four key priorities for the authority:

1. Keeping people safe and well
2. Enabling resilient and flourishing communities
3. Enabling economic growth and renewal
4. Providing value for money for local taxpayers

These priorities are underpinned by several key strategies, including the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-2026 (JHWS). The JHSW identified success as providing a place where it is easier for people to enjoy improved health and wellbeing, and creating conditions for healthy choices to become the easier option.

The Local Football Facility Plan for North Lincolnshire identifies opportunities to improve football (and multi-sport) facility provision, to support and encourage residents to engage in being physically active, and therefore has a role to play in supporting the local authority in achieving its priorities of the Council Plan and the JHWS.

The local authority has a Playing Pitch Strategy in place; this was adopted in 2020. The key findings and stated overarching priorities are to:

• There is sufficient capacity of grass pitches across all pitch sizes, but several sites do experience overplay.
• Opportunities to move some demand from grass to 3G FTPs could be considered.
• There is, however, a shortfall of five 3G FTPs, with interest identified for Rugby Union use as well as football.

County Football Association

North Lincolnshire is covered by the Lincolnshire 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. It has a designated facilities investment lead officer who works to ensure the right facilities are located in the right locations.

Football Foundation

The Regional Delivery 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. The Regional Facility Planning Manager (FPM) will lead and be responsible for all aspects of strategic planning and will lead on refreshing of LFFPs.

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. Sport England determines statutory planning consultations in accordance with its Playing Fields Policy and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

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). The Iron Foundation (formerly Scunthorpe United Community Sport and Education Trust) runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

North Lincolnshire Council is the key leisure operator in North Lincolnshire. It currently operates key sites including sports centres (seven), 3G FTPs (two) and a total of 18 grass pitches.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in North Lincolnshire. The agencies consulted include:

• Lincolnshire FA
• North Lincolnshire Council
• Active Humber
• The Iron Foundation (formerly Scunthorpe United Community Sport and Education Trust)
• National Governing Bodies of sport, including:
  • England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
  • Lincolnshire Cricket
  • England Hockey
  • The Rugby Football Union (RFU)
  • The Rugby Football League (RFL)

Local consultation took place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in the original LFFP. As part of the refresh process a survey was sent via the County FA to all football clubs in the area. Furthermore, it is a requirement that all projects that move through to application phase undertake detailed community engagement to ensure that facilities fully serve the communities they are being designed for.

Clubs

There are over 91,000 community football teams in England, spread over an expansive network of clubs and leagues. North Lincolnshire has a total of 312 teams.

Survive. Revive. Thrive is the FA Grassroots Football Strategy 2020-2024. To deliver the goals for male and female football, there must be a vibrant, best-in-class club network around the country. The FA will work to encourage as many clubs as possible to achieve FA-Accredited status, assuring quality in everything they offer, including ever-safer and stronger player pathways. This will be coupled with a commitment to improve the quality of thousands of pitches up and down the country, with a particular focus on grass pitches.

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In North Lincolnshire, nine clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2022-23 affiliation data) are:

• Epworth Town Colts AFC - 25 teams
• Appleby Frodingham FC - 23 teams
• Bottesford Town FC - 22 teams
• Barton Junior FC - 21 teams
• Crowle Colts Juniors - 17 teams
• Brigg Town JFC - 14 teams
• Messingham Juniors - 14 teams
• Broughton Ravers JFC - 13 teams
• Park Tigers JFC - 12 teams

Leagues

Six leagues operate in North Lincolnshire. They offer competitive opportunity for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. Furthermore, The Ability Counts League operates across Lincolnshire and is available for disability teams and clubs across the county, with a number of clubs from North Lincolnshire participating.

North Lincolnshire's local leagues (2022-23) include:

• Jack Kalson League – 222 teams – home and away
• Paul Fox Scunthorpe & District Sunday League – 25 teams – home and away
• EC Surfacing LTD Scunthorpe & District Football League – 21 teams – home and away
• Leisure Leagues Scunthorpe – 12 teams – central venue
• Lincolnshire Women and Girls Football League – 12 teams – home and away
• The Pundits League – 8 teams – central venue

The County FA reports cross boundary migration to / from North Lincolnshire due to teams migrating playing in the East Riding Girls Football League / Doncaster & District Junior Sunday League / East Riding Women's League & East Riding Hull & District Veterans Football League. This is in part due to the rural nature of the county necessitating greater travel to support participation.

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 North Lincolnshire there are five football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to grow this provision. For talented players the FA runs regional centres and England national squads.

Women and girls

The FA had big ambitions for women and girls football and managed to double levels of participation between 2017 and 2020. To achieve this required a combined effort across four pathways: education, recreation, competition and talent. Despite achieving this ambitious target more places to play are still required for women and girls. The focus now is to give all girls equal access to football by 2024 and this will be a key objective of any facility investment. The FA’s four-year strategy, titled Inspiring Positive Change, pledges to create a sustainable future for women’s and girls’ football in England. The strategy outlines eight transformational objectives to be achieved by 2024, the following across grassroots football:-

• Early Participation – Every primary school-aged girl to have equal access to football in school and in clubs.
• Development Participation – Every girl to have equal access to participate for fun, for competition and for excellence.
• Club Player Pathway – Collaborate with clubs to develop an effective high-performance, inclusive player-centred pathway.
• Football For All – Recruit and support a motivated, diverse range of local leaders organising football for their communities.
• Coaching – Support the development of exceptional coaches at every level of the game who are representative of our society.
• Refereeing – Ensure that every female referee afforded high-quality bespoke learning and development opportunities from grassroots through to the elite game.

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. North Lincolnshire has two FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

There are currently nine female teams in North Lincolnshire. The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. Lincolnshire FA will deploy an Equal Game Ambassador who will work specifically with clubs with little or no femal provision, and support them in establishing an offer. This will be in the form of affiliated teams which will contribute to the Lincolnshire Women and Girls Football League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. This league is therefore expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, Emerging Talent Centres (ETCs) provide an opportunity to develop through performance pathways. The local ETC is at Lincoln City, with a further centre to be established at Grimsby Town in 2023. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads.

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 Powerplay.

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 three FA Just Play centres in North Lincolnshire, including one Disability Just Play centre. Walking football and Just Play have been prioritised by the County FA for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include pro-club community scheme activity delivered by the Iron Foundation and casual, recreational bookings which are made available by a range of organisations.

The key strengths of local football in North Lincolnshire include League provision for adult male and youth football, local teams accessing leagues across the county that offer suitable provision and the amount of clubs with ten plus teams. There has also been positive growth in female football participation, and the development of the Lincolnshire Women and Girls Football League. This provision needs to be sustained and also encouraged to grow further.

Lincolnshire FA have identified that the future football development priorities for North Lincolnshire are:

1. Development of Over 35 Veteran's provision, given high levels of interest
2. Increasing opportunities for women and girls, through support to existing clubs to broaden their offer
3. Provide additional provision for participants with disabilities - such as through open aged recreational play, and affiliated pan-disability play
4. Development of a walking football programme / session as a new opportunity for the local area

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. 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
• Off pitch and ancillary facilities (e.g. toilets, changing rooms, catering)
• 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.

Existing full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in North Lincolnshire include:

• Baysgarth School
• Frederick Gough School

Additionally, there are currently five small-sided 3G FTP centres in North Lincolnshire:

• Brumby Hall / Appleby Frodingham Works Athletic Club (7 v 7)
• Axholme North Leisure Centre (9 v 9)
• Foxhills Sports Ground (7 v 7)
• South Axholme Academy (9 v 9)
• St Lawrence Academy (7 v 7)

In addition, John Leggott College and Bottesford Town FC were previously identified in the original Local Football Facility Plan for North Lincolnshire. Both are now in development, with funding support confirmed via the Football Foundation. These pitches are therefore considered as existing supply within this Local Football Facility Plan.

North Lincolnshire has a PPS undertaken in 2020. The PPS indicates that there is a shortfall of five full size 3G FTPs.

Due to significant growth in team numbers since the development of the PPS, and development of additional facilities, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38.

On the basis that there are 312 teams in North Lincolnshire, there is a requirement for eight full sized 3G FTPs (rounded down from 8.2). There are currently four full sized 3G FTPs in North Lincolnshire (including John Leggott College and Bottesford Town FC) and there is thus a shortfall of four full sized 3G FTPs.

Due to the fact that there are also two 9 v 9 3G pitches, plus three 7 v 7 pitches in North Lincolnshire available for community use the LFFP Steering Group agreed that the shortfall position with regard to full size 3G FTPs should be reduced to three.

In addition to the shortfall of full sized 3G FTPs there are also three 3G FTPs that require replacement now or in the near future:

• St Lawrence Academy
• Appleby Frodingham Works Athletic Club
• Frederick Gough School

As each of these facilities received Football Foundation funding, they are required to operate sinking funds to support the replacement of the surfaces, and are therefore not identified as priorities within this plan.

Five of the eight pitches are on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the three remaining pitches are assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven, current provision is mainly located in the centre of the Borough (which has the highest population and levels of deprivation) and the west of the Authority. There are provision gaps in the east to address; particularly as the area also has pockets of higher deprivation.

Local consultation reveals no common issues with high pricing, however many clubs identified a requirement for additional access to 3G FTPs to support training needs.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified. Each was selected based upon a rationale of good access, high population, geographic spread, and existing facility quality:

The Football Foundation is on a mission to transform the quality of grass football pitches across England, because great facilities enhance physical and mental wellbeing, strengthen communities and empower people. The quality of football pitches is a huge issue for community football; 150,000 matches were postponed due to poor pitches during the last full football season. We are therefore on a mission to improve 20,000 grass pitches across England.

The Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund is a £21m fund that provides eligible clubs and leagues with a tapered six-year grant to help them sustain pitches already at a 'good' level and enhance pitches that are either considered 'poor' or 'basic'. In order to be eligible, clubs and leagues must use the PitchPower app to assess their pitches. This provides a detailed assessment report with recommendations on improving the quality of grass pitches. The PitchPower app is available to all pitch owners as a way to assess grass pitch quality and gain access to grass pitch improvement recommendations. See Football Foundation | PitchPower

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.

Through the use of PitchPower we are able to identify the demand for investment into new or additional machinery and equipment and see this as an important step towards sustainability for the voluntary sector. Ensuring clubs and leagues can maintain their own sites, supplemented by contracted out major works (e.g. aeration) is potentially a more cost effective approach in the long term.

While the education sector (23.8%) and local authorities (51.8%) are still the principal asset owners of grass pitches and have the heaviest reliance for affiliated matches, clubs / leagues own or maintain an increasing share and we will continue to prioritise investment into sites that are maintained by clubs or leagues.

North Lincolnshire, as an authority engaged in the Pitch Improvement Programme, are actively engaging with the Football Association and Football Foundation to explore opportunities to improve grass pitch quality.

PitchPower has allowed all Club owned and leased sites to apply for funding to improve grass pitch maintenance. In North Lincolnshire, Messingham Recreation Ground (Messingham FC), The Phil Grundy Sports & Community Centre (Broughton CSA), and Windsor Park (Crowle Colts Juniors), were previously highlighted as pitch improvement projects and have since been awarded Football Foundation investment.

Brumby Hall (Appleby Frodingham Works Athletic Club) and South Axholme Academy are also in receipt of Grass Pitch Maintenance Funding, and as such, the priority should be to increase the quality of these pitches.

There are currently a further nine grass pitch sites in the local area that contain a total of 38 grass pitches, that have been identified as either currently maintained, in part or whole, by grassroots clubs or leagues. In addition, Baysgarth School (five pitches) are identified as having extensive community use and could be considered for improvements.

These sites should be prioritised for completion of PitchPower assessments with a view to progressing applications for grass pitch maintenance funding.

In summary, ten key pitch sites should be prioritised for improvements. This will result in quality improvements to 43 pitches.

Ten priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PitchPower (or the PPS and ratified by local partners where PitchPower data isn't available). Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition, those that have multiple pitches, and with established community use.

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 30 key grass pitch sites in North Lincolnshire with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but of strategic importance), 23 sites have suitable changing rooms, whilst seven sites require improvement/replacement.

Seven 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, the audiences and the various facility types they relate to.

Research suggests that small-sided players in teams and leagues, and in organised 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.

Whilst our priorities will always be football led, we believe Small sided facilities provide a good opportunity to collaborate with other sports to deliver high quality spaces for people to play recreational sport. This will be achieved via our PlayZones Programme:

Football Foundation PlayZone Programme

PlayZones are modern, safe, and engaging facilities that are designed for recreational football and at least one other sport. There are a range of facility types to meet the needs of different sports.

Through this programme we want to address stubborn inequalities in activity levels and access to sports facilities within four priority groups:

• Lower socio-economic groups
• Women and girls
• Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions
• Ethnically diverse communities

Our research also shows us that when it comes to small sided facilities one size does not fit all and localised design and ownership will yield the greatest engagement from under represented groups. Activation is also as important as the facility itself for these groups. This section of the LFFP will concentrate on suitable places for PlayZones.

Suitable places will be identified through a combination of mapping, to include identification of our priority groups and crossover with other multi-sport priorities. Further community engagement will be required for design and delivery. Where some engagement has already been carried out projects will appear in the project list.

All projects will then need to be developed by a cross sector consortium where partners who understand and represent the people and the place come together to drive the project forward and create access and opportunities for priority groups.

Our research shows us that community engagement is the key to developing great small sided facilities and that we shouldn't try and identify sites without first identifying two key things:

• Key priority places within the local authority
• Key priority groups within the local authority

Once these two things are identified local community engagement is required to identify potential sites for investment. In North Lincolnshire, the starting point for priority places, identified through previous Local Authority work around deprivation and inactivity, is:

• Scunthorpe North
• Scunthorpe South
• Barton

In addition, Winterton is identified as a potential priority area due to identified issues relating to rural isolation, and difficulties with residents being able to travel to participate in sport and physical activity.

The key priority groups in North Lincolnshire are:

• Lower socio-economic groups
• People with long-term health conditions
• Ethnically diverse communities

This priority group of places and people will be ratified throughout the process and the next step is to begin community engagement to help identify where the specific sites are that will help to tackle inequalities and provide spaces for activity.

A range of local agencies and all local football clubs were invited to participate in the LFFP consultation. Those that contributed are listed below:

• Lincolnshire FA
• North Lincolnshire Council
• Active Humber
• The Iron Foundation (formerly Scunthorpe United Community Sport and Education Trust)
• National Governing Bodies of sport, including:
  • England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
  • Lincolnshire Cricket
  • England Hockey
  • The Rugby Football Union (RFU)
  • The Rugby Football League (RFL)
• Barnetby United FC
• Barton Inclusive FC
• Barton Junior FC
• Barton Town FC
• Barton United Mini FC
• Bottesford Town FC
• Broughton Ravers JFC
• Burton United FC
• Epworth Town Colts AFC
• Messingham Juniors FC