Local Football Facility Plan North West Leicestershire

North West Leicestershire is in the East Midlands region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 100,109. This is expected to rise to 112,915 by 2039.

North West Leicestershire is ranked 24 out of 40 LAs in the region, and 215 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (97.5%). This is higher to the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of its population represented by the BAME community is 2.5%. This is below the national average (14.6%)

Local Authority

The North West Leicestershire Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2018 – 2028) aims to measurably improve the health and well being of everyone in the Authority. To achieve this vision, it's action plan identifies a number of key priorities, including:

• To increase levels of participation in sport/physical activity via engagement with communities, strengthening social networks and proactive delivery of partner-driven community centred approaches to health and wellbeing;
• Produce an open-spaces needs assessment and strategy ensuring that knowledge about the quality and value of open space, green infrastructure and play facilities in the district is detailed and up to date; and
• Improve the quality, accessibility and levels of community access to indoor and built sports facilities.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was adopted in 2017. It indicates that the majority of pitches available for community use are standard quality (68%), with 28% rated poor and only 4% good. PPS club consultation suggested that changing provision at Hermitage Recreation Ground, Scotland's Playing Fields and Western Park, in particular, is of poor quality and needs renovation.

County Football Association

North West Leicestershire is covered by the Leicestershire and Rutland 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). There is no regular CCO activity in North West Leicestershire, however, Leicester City Community Trust do work infrequently in the area.

Local Leisure Operator

Everyone Active is the major leisure operator in the Authority. It currently manages the two main facilities in the Authority (Hermitage Leisure Centre and Hood Park Leisure Centre). Football facilities at these sites are as follows;

• Hermitage Leisure Centre: 1 x 3G FTP (42m x 88m); and
• Hood Park Leisure Centre: 2 x 5v5 FTP.

In addition, Everyone Active also manages the sand dressed pitch at Ivanhoe College.

Hermitage Leisure Centre is scheduled to close in 2021 and will be replaced by a new facility in Coalville. The 3G FTP will remain and continue to be managed, initially on a renewable annual contract basis, by Everyone Active.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in North West Leicestershire. Eight individuals (representing six local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• North West Leicestershire Council
• Coalville Town
• Kegworth Imps
• Thringstone Miners Welfare Trustees

(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. North West Leicestershire has (based upon FA 2017/18 affiliation data) a total of 198 teams. 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 North West Leicestershire, nine clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Ibstock United Juniors - 26 teams
• Coalville Town Ravenettes - 22 teams
• Albert Village FC - 20 teams
• Castle Donington FC- 17 teams

Leagues

18 leagues operate in Leicestershire and Rutland . They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, disability, youth and adults . Male, female and youth futsal leagues are also in place in Leicestershire and Rutland. Leicestershire and Rutland's largest adult local leagues (2017-18) include:

• The Alliance Football League – 74 teams– home and away
• Leicester and Charnwood Sunday Football League – 43 teams– home and away
• Leicestershire Senior League – 40 teams– home and away
• Leicester City Football League- veterans – 40 teams– home and away
• North Leicestershire Football League – 37 teams– home and away
• Leicester and District Football League – 33 teams– home and away
• Hinckley and District Sunday Football League - 21 teams– home and away
• Leicestershire Senior County Women’s Football League - 11 teams– home and away

Leicestershire and Rutland's largest youth local leagues (2018-19) include:

• Leicester and District Mutual Football League, U7-U10 – 452 teams– home and away
• Leicester and District Sunday Junior U13-U15– 218 teams– home and away
• Leicestershire Foxes Sunday League U11-U12 – 201 teams– home and away
• Leicester City County Girls League U8-U18 – 142 teams– home and away
• MDH Teamwear Leicestershire Youth League U16 – U18 – 89 teams– home and away
• Leicestershire Midweek Floodlit Youth League U18 – 20 teams– home and away

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 West Leicestershire there are no football teams specifically for people with a disability, however, it is a priority of the County FA to grow this provision in the authority.

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. Leicestershire and Rutland operates a number of Wildcats girls sessions and the priority is to grow this activity to 15 successful and sustainable centres across the county by 2021.

There are 15 youth and adult female teams in North West Leicestershire which is comparable to local areas of a similar size. Coalville Ravenettes has 22 teams, including some who play mini soccer. 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 Leicester City County Girls U8-U18 League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years particularly at mini soccer age groups. The local adult female league is the Leicestershire Senior County Women’s Football League. It too plays matches on a home and away basis and expects to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the nearest FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Leicester City Women’s FC which is located in Leicester City. 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 Leicester City Women’s 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 across the County are:

• Champions Soccer at St Margaret's Pastures
• Power Play at Brockington College
• Football Mundial at Harborough Town.
• 6-a-side league at Hermitage 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 106 futsal teams in Leicestershire and Rutland; these play in the Leicestershire Futsal Fives Female and Male Leagues and the Leicestershire and Rutland Youth Futsal League at key site locations including Crown Hills Community College, Judgemeadow Community College, Babington Academy and Brockington College. It is a priority for the County FA to grow both affiliated and recreational futsal.

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 12 FA Just Play centres in Leicestershire and Rutland and the County FA is working towards having 15 in place by 2021. 16 walking football sessions are delivered at/by a range of community organisation including leisure centres, community centres and clubs. The County FA has prioritised walking football and Just Play for further growth. Other local recreational football programmes are primarily delivered through Leicester City Community Trust projects.

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

The key strengths of local football in Leicestershire and Rutland include the vibrant club structure and proven track record of investment into charter standard clubs. The overarching future football development priorities for Leicestershire and Rutland are:

1.Increasing access and provision of 3G Football Turf Pitches (FTP's) for training and match play.

2.Improving changing room facilities for adult football.

3.Improving or enhancing facilities to support women and girls football.

4.Proving appropriate facilities to support participants within our BAME communities.

5.Working with clubs and partners to provide access to appropriate high quality facilities.

6.Developing or enabling access to suitable facilities countywide to support the development of futsal.

7.Providing opportunities to support informal provision and recreational play.

The facilities required to assist this in North West Leicestershire 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 North West Leicestershire. 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 Football Turf Pitches (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 is one full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in North West Leicestershire which is located at Newbridge High School.

There are also currently four small-sided 3G FTP sites in North West Leicestershire. These are located at:

• Hermitage Leisure Centre (42m x 88m FTP).
• Castle Donington College (2 x 5v5 FTPs)
• Hood Park Leisure Centre (2 x 5v5 FTPs)
• Measham Community and Recreation Centre (5v5 FTP)

As mentioned earlier, Hermitage Leisure Centre is to close and be replaced with a new Leisure Centre in Coalville by 2021, however, the 3G FTP and the changing provision will be retained and will be managed by Everyone Active. Ownership will remain with the Local Authority. It is the intention that the site will be retained as green space.

The North West Leicestershire PPS was adopted in 2017. It indicated a shortfall of one full size 3G FTP, which it suggested should be located in the Ibstock area. The PPS stated shortfall was calculated using the FA demand model of 1:42, not the latest model which applies a ratio of 1:38. Using the latest model and current affiliation data, there is deemed to be a need for five full-sized 3G FTPs. The full size pitch at Newbridge and the combination of all small sided provision, calculates a current supply total of two full sized 3G pitch equivalents in the Authority, resulting in a shortfall of three full sized 3G FTPS. This demand will be satisfied with a combination of two new full size FTPs and two new small sided (61x43m) FTPs.

Newbridge High School is available for community use and also on the 3G FTP Register (meaning it is quality checked and can be used for football match play).

The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven. There are provision gaps in Ibstock, Ashby and Castle Donington despite them being substantial settlements and the strong local demand from affiliated teams, such as Ashby Ivanhoe FC and Castle Donington FC. It is recommended that these gaps are addressed.

Four priority projects for potential investment are identified. These comprise two full-sized 3G FTPs and two small sided facilities. The two small sided 3G FTPs will equate to one full sized equivalent. Sites were selected based upon a rationale of servicing local population areas and the need to support affiliated football.

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 11 grass pitch sites in North West Leicestershire with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). these contain 39 grass pitches. Of these, two are considered to have good quality pitches, and nine are of either standard or poor quality.

It is proposed that all nine strategic sites which contain standard or poor pitches are taken forward for investment.

It must also be noted that the King George V Playing Field, home of Kegworth Imps football club (two pitch site) is to be lost due to the development of High Speed Rail. Consequently, a new site will need to be found to replace it and to accommodate the Club although no site has, as yet, been allocated. As a consequence, an additional site has been added to the info graphic below.

Nine priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition, that are, or have the potential to be well-utilised and reflect the strategic focus to improve participation levels.

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 11 key grass pitch sites in North West Lesicestershire with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but of strategic importance determined by the steering group), six sites have suitable changing rooms, four sites require improvement/replacement and two have no facilities and require new changing provision.

It should be noted that King George V Playing Field in Kegworth may be lost as a result of the High Speed Rail development, and a new site will need to be identified. This site is also likely to require a new changing pavilion and has been added to the project list for reference (Kegworth Imps).

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified:

Good facilities are important to all small sided football players, but it is important to understand the different formats of the small-sided game and the various facility types they relate to.

Research suggests that small-sided players in teams and leagues, and in recreational sessions, prefer a 3G surface type because it replicates a good standard natural turf pitch. These facilities have already been covered in the 3G FTP section of this LFFP.

Indoor environments currently accommodate 20% of football participation and are also popular with players in teams and leagues and recreational sessions . Indoor sports halls are most popular, along with some community halls and indoor 3G centres. Environments need to be engaging, have clear line-marking and the correct size goalposts.

Informal players require facilities that are open and free to access as this enables play opportunities that are often spontaneous. In these circumstances multi-use games areas (MUGAs) can be effective in areas of high urban population and limited green space. Such facilities can be modern, bright, creative and engaging. While this plan will identify suitable locations for such facilities, the design and specifics of the facility type can be agreed at a later stage with Football Foundation staff when projects are ready to progress to pre-application stage.

Parks and open green spaces are also important to informal play and require goalposts and zones that are free from litter and dog fouling.

Local consultation reveals that there are no indoor facilities that require improvement to develop small sided football.

Local consultation reveals that five potential opportunities for MUGAs have been identified for investment. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in an area of limited provision, high reported demand for recreational football and the potential for an organisation to deliver health and wellbeing programmes.

Local consultation reveals that there are no parks or open spaces that require improvement to develop small sided football, however, further consultation is required to determine whether investment in to recreational football in parks is required.

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:

• North West Leicestershire Council- Leisure Services Team Manager
• North West Leicestershire Council- Neighbourhood manager
• Kegworth Imps- Secretary
• NW Leicestershire Football League - Secretary
• Barden Juniors - Secretary
• Whitwick Parish Council- Secretary
• Donnisthorpe FC - Secretary
• Thringstone Miners Welfare- Community manager
• Coalville Town FC - Secretary
• Ibstock United Junior & Youth FC - Secretary
• Castle Donington Football Club - Secretary
• Coalville Town Youth Ravenettes & Ravens - Secretary