Local Football Facility Plan Norwich

Demographics for the area can be seen below:

Local authority

Norwich City Council’s sporting needs and ambitions are incorporated into the Greater Norwich Physical Activity and Sport Strategy (PASS), accepted by the Greater Norwich Growth Board in 2022, which provides recommendations to implement an integrated and more inclusive understanding of physical activity and sport, considering its effects on mental as well as physical health whilst also seeking to address barriers to participation.

Within the PASS, the local authority has a Playing Pitch Strategy in place; also adopted in 2022. The key football findings and stated overarching priorities for the authority are:

• Current spare capacity across most pitch formats, with capacity on 11v11 pitches balanced, however shortfalls across adult, youth 11v11 and youth 9v9 pitches in the future as demand increases.
• There are opportunities to improve grass pitch quality across sites identified as standard or poor.
• Similarly, a number of sites have ancillary facilities assessed as poor, which could benefit from improvement.
• Sufficient supply of 3G FTPs to meet current and future demand.

Norwich City Council is also guided by its Corporate Plan (2022-2026), which embraces the 'Norwich 2040 City Vision' of a creative, fair, liveable, connected and dynamic city. The LFFP supports the authority in achieving the aims of its Corporate Plan in addition to the priorities of the PASS, particularly in relation to:

• Delivery of facilities to support a broad range of activities, to connect communities and deliver positive outcomes for residents (Aim 1 - people live independently and well in a diverse and safe city).
• Providing improvements to sporting infrastructure which support healthy lifestyles (Aim 2 - Norwich as a sustainable and healthy city).
• Delivering infrastructure based on the needs of clubs and players (Aim 3 - Norwich has the infrastructure and housing it needs to be a successful city).

County Football Association

Norwich is covered by the Norfolk 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 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 . 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 Norwich City Community Sports Foundation (CSF) runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area. The foundation delivers a number of Premier League projects reaching the heart of the community and is an experienced 3g operator with The Nest, Carrow Park and Brundall.

Local leisure operator

Places Leisure is the main leisure operator in Norwich. However, the key provider for football facilities is the Norfolk County FA which runs facilities across the County including, in Norwich, dual use provision at the FDC Open Academy (one 11v11 3G FTP plus two full-sized grass football pitch equivalents) and FDC Bowthorpe (one 11v11 3G FTP, four 7v7 3G FTPs, and two 5v5 3G FTPs).

Local consultation

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

• Norwich City Council
• Norfolk County FA
• Active Norfolk
• Norwich City Community Sports Foundation
• Local Football Clubs
• National Governing Bodies of Sport, including:
  • England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
  • 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. Norwich has a total of 121 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 Norwich, four clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2022-23 affiliation data) are:

• Costessey Sports FC - 27 teams
• Heigham Park FC - 19 teams
• Match of the Dads FC - 12 teams
• Norwich City FC - 12 teams

Leagues

Eight leagues operate in Norwich, with fixtures taking place across a broader geographical area incorporating other local authorities. They offer competitive opportunity for many different players, including women and girls, disability, youth and adults.

The largest of these leagues (2022-23) are:

• Norfolk Combined Youth Football League – 602 teams– home and away
• Norfolk Women & Girls Football League – 159 teams– home and away
• Anglian Combination Football League – 97 teams– home and away
• Central & South Norfolk Football League – 46 teams– home and away
• Norwich & District Sunday League – 41 teams– home and away
• Norfolk FA Veteran League – 40 teams– home and away

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to/from Norwich for competitive match play.

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 Norwich there are three locations providing an offer for people with a disability, including affiliated football and recreational programmes. Activities take place at Carrow Park, the FDC, and City Academy. It is a priority of the County FA to develop 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. Norwich has one FA Wildcats girls football centre and the priority is to grow this activity.

There are seven female teams in Norwich across adult, youth and mini soccer formats. The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local women and girls’ league is the Norfolk Women & Girls Football League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Essex FA located in Colchester. 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 West Ham United which provides player pathway opportunity 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 - Goals Norwich
• Norfolk County FA - University of East Anglia Sportspark

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 Norwich. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Norfolk County FA. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include All To Play For, PL Kicks and Norfolk County FA Pay and Play; these are delivered by a range of organisations including Norwich City CSF and Norfolk County FA.

The key strengths of local football in Norwich include women’s, youth and adults’ provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, Norfolk County FA have identified key football development priorities to grow the game, these are:

1. Increased accessibility to disability football in grassroots clubs.
2. Continued growth of the affiliated female game, particularly in foundation ages.
3. Increased engagement with lower socio-economic communities, offering equal access to football.
4. Recreational opportunities, including walking football.
5. Increased access to coaching CPD opportunities for affiliated clubs.

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 Norwich include:

• FDC Open Academy
• FDC Bowthorpe

The pitch at FDC Bowthorpe is rated as good quality, whilst Open Academy is standard. Both sites are identified in the PPS as operating at capacity.

Additionally, there are currently 26 small-sided 3G FTPs in Norwich:

• FDC Bowthorpe (two 5 v 5 and four 7 v 7 pitches)
• FDC Open Academy (one 7 v 7 pitch)
• Goals Soccer Centre (ten 5 v 5 pitches)
• HMP Norwich (one 5 v 5 pitch)
• Norwich City CSF (one 7 v 7 pitch)
• Notre Dame Prep School (one small pitch)
• Sportspark (seven 5 v 5 pitches)

Two pitches - HMP Norwich and Notre Dame Prep School - aren't currently available for community use.

Norwich has a PPS undertaken in 2022. The PPS indicates that there is a sufficient supply of 3G FTPs, based on two full-size pitches serving 86 teams.

On the basis that 2022/23 affiliation data identifies 121 teams in Norwich, an increase of 35 teams since data was captured to influence the PPS, it should now be considered that there is a shortfall of one full size 3G FTP.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is relatively even, with the seven sites distributing overall 3G FTP capacity across the authority. There is however no provision in the North analysis area of the PPS.

Local consultation reveals no common issues with high pricing, however given the current pitches are operating at capacity, there is identified demand for additional training facilities.

The FA has seen unprecedented growth over the last five years, particularly in the youth and women & girls game. Overall participation is estimated to grow year on year, equating to an additional 63 teams in the local authority by 2030, of which 41 will come from women and girls. This could represent the equivalent of up to two additional 11v11 3G FTPs.

Allowances will be made for in the LFFP for ancillary provision for each pitch if needed, however this is subject to the final agreed location of any additional future provision and an assessment as to whether there are existing suitable facilities available. This is displayed as a future participation growth project below.

One priority projects for potential investment are identified. This was selected based upon a rationale of good access, identified local demand for increased 3G FTP provision and potential to benefit residents in an area of high deprivation:

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.

PitchPower has allowed all Club owned and leased sites to apply for funding to improve grass pitch maintenance. In Norwich, one site has been awarded Football Foundation investment to improve grass pitch quality, this is City of Norwich School (accessed by Lakeford Rangers FC).

The priority now should be improving grass pitch quality and continuing to undertake PitchPower inspections to monitor improvements at this site.

Further clubs eligible to apply for funding include:

• Heigham Park Rangers (Recreation Road Sports Centre)
• Mulbarton Wanderers (The Hewett Academy)

There are currently nine grass pitch sites in the local area that each contain 3 or more grass pitches, that have been identified as either currently maintained, in part or whole, by grassroots clubs or leagues, or are maintained by the public sector but are of strategic importance to football locally.

One site, Open Academy, has been assessed via Pitchpower in the past 12 months and is known to have one basic quality pitch and one poor.

Of the key pitch sites referenced above, it was determined that four of these should be prioritised for improvements owing to poor or standard quality ratings and overplay (or minimum spare capacity) being identified via the Playing Pitch Strategy. Furthermore, an additional two smaller pitch sites should be improved to improve quality and capacity. This will result in quality improvements to 22 pitches.

Six priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PitchPower or the PPS, ratified by local partners where PitchPower data isn't available. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition or experiencing overplay, with three or more pitches or of strategic importance.

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.

All sites in Norwich that provide grass football pitches for community use also provide ancillary provision.

Of the nine key grass pitch sites in Norwich with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), six sites have changing rooms considered good or standard quality, however two sites require improvement.

In addition to the grass pitch sites, FDC Bowthorpe provides nine 3G FTPs, and a need for improvements to ancillary provision serving the Harrod Sport Arena (11 v 11 3G FTP pitch) has been identified.

The FA has seen unprecedented growth over the last five years, particularly in the youth and women & girls game. Overall participation is estimated to grow year on year, equating to an additional 63 teams in the local authority by 2030, of which 41 will come from women and girls. This could represent the equivalent of up to two additional 11v11 3G FTPs.

Allowances will be made for in the LFFP for ancillary provision for each pitch if needed, however this is subject to the final agreed location of any additional future provision and an assessment as to whether there are existing suitable facilities available. This is displayed as a future participation growth project below.

Three 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 Norwich, Reducing Inequalities Target Areas (RITAs) - identified by Norwich City Council on the basis of inequalities and deprivation - could be the starting point for priority places. RITAs include the following wards:

• Catton Grove
• Crome
• Lakenham
• Mancroft
• Mile Cross
• Wensum

The key priority groups in Norwich are:

• Lower socio-economic groups
• Women and girls
• Disabled people and 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 now 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 local football clubs were invited to participate in the LFFP consultation. Those that contributed are listed below:

• Norwich City Council
• Norfolk County FA
• Norwich City Community Sports Foundation
• Active Norfolk
• National Governing Bodies of sport, including:
  • England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
  • England Hockey
  • The Rugby Football Union (RFU)
  • The Rugby Football League (RFL)
• Bowthorpe Rovers FC
• Heigham Park Rangers FC
• Silver Road FC