Local Football Facility Plan Redcar and Cleveland

Redcar & Cleveland is in the North East Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 136,005 . This is expected to fall to 133,624 by 2039.

Redcar & Cleveland is ranked 5th out of 12 LAs in the region, and 77th out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Redcar & Cleveland's ethnic composition is primarily white (99%). This is significantly higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Redcar & Cleveland's population represented by the BAME community is 1%. This is significantly below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The Redcar & Cleveland Council Local Plan (adopted May 2018) presents the following headline 'The Redcar & Cleveland Local Plan will ensure that, by 2032, the needs and aspirations of our communities will be met through the delivery of sustainable development across the borough'

Redcar & Cleveland has experienced long term population decline due to the weakening of the local manufacturing and steel making base. The focus in the borough is thus being placed on stemming outward migration rather than on planning for significant population / housing growth.

South Tees, within which Redcar & Cleveland is located, is one of Sport England's Local Delivery Pilot areas. This is concentrated in the Grangetown and South Bank localities which are subject to low current levels of engagement in sport & physical activity and linked multiple deprivation (Grangetown is ranked as the 6th most deprived LA ward in England).

The Redcar & Cleveland Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) was completed in 2015 and is, thus, considered to be out of date. The Council intends to update this during winter 2019/20 and the outcome will inform the next iteration of the LFFP.

County football association

Redcar & Cleveland is covered by the North Riding County FA. It provides governance for, and development support to, all aspects of local football including coaches, referees, volunteers, clubs and leagues; supporting football for all. The County FA has a designated facilities investment lead officer who works to ensure the right facilities are located in the right locations.

Football Foundation

The Regional Engagement Manager and Regional Technical Project Manager at the Football Foundation work collaboratively with the County FA to provide pre-application support to priority projects for potential investment.

Sport England

Has a network of planning managers who have a statutory role in the planning system to protect playing fields and provide consultation responses to planning applications relating to sporting facilities . They also play a key role in strategic planning for sports facilities, providing advice and support to local authorities to assess need for facilities in their local area.

Professional community club organisations (CCOs)

These offer a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). The Middlesbrough FC Foundation runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area and also has its facility hub .

Local leisure operator

Two leisure facilities in Redcar & Cleveland (Eston & Saltburn leisure centres) are run by Everyone Active. The two current full size 3G FTPs in the borough meanwhile are operated by the Middlesbrough FC Foundation and Laurence Jackson school respectively.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Redcar & Cleveland. 20 individuals (representing 16 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Redcar Utd
• Redcar Athletic
• Boro Rangers
• Beyond Housing
• Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency

(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. Redcar & Cleveland has a total of 250 teams, which is comparable to 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 Redcar & Cleveland, eight clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Boro Rangers - 56 teams
• Grangetown Boys Club - 13 teams
• Guisborough Town Juniors - 16 teams
• Nunthorpe Athletic Juniors - 12 teams
• Redcar Athletic - 17 teams
• Redcar Town - 21 teams
• Skelton United FC -11 teams
• South Park Rangers - 17 teams

Leagues

Seven leagues cater for clubs and teams in Redcar & Cleveland. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, disability, youth and adults. The largest of the local leagues (2018-19) include:

• Teesside Junior Football Alliance – 775 teams– home and away
• North East Girls League – 45 teams– home and away
• North Riding Football League – 36 teams– home and away

The County FA reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Redcar & Cleveland due to teams migrating inwards from & outwards to play in neighbouring authorities.

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 Redcar & Cleveland there are 14 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 currently based in Middlesbrough.

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. Redcar & Cleveland has two FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 26, Redcar & Cleveland’s number of female teams is comparable 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 girl’s league is the North East Girl's League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. Its provision is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the North Riding Womens League which also plays matches on a home and away basis and is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Teesside which is located in Middlesbrough. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads. Middlesbrough Ladies compete in the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division (Tier 3) and provide 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.

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
• MFC Foundation
• Everyone Active

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 10 futsal teams in Redcar & Cleveland . 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 is currently one FA Just Play centre in Redcar & Cleveland. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include Man vs Fat / pro-club community scheme activity, refugee and asylum seeker sessions which are delivered by a range of organisations.

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 Redcar & Cleveland is played across the Authority.

The key strengths of local football in Redcar & Cleveland include strong club based opportunities, football club community scheme, strategic lead for sport and leisure within the authority and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However gaps these include Growing the women and girls game, disability football and the recreational game. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Middlesbrough are:

• Male affiliated and regular-recorded recreational players “Increase male footballers in the game by 10%”
• Female affiliated and regular-recorded recreational players “Support a doubling of female football via 75% growth”
• Disability affiliated and regular-recorded recreational players “Grow participation in disability football by 30%”
• Futsal affiliated and regular-recorded recreational players “Ensure affiliated futsal is available across the area

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

Additionally, 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 Redcar & Cleveland. 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 is 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 FTP 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.

The two full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Redcar & Cleveland are located at:

• Middlesbrough FC (Herlingshaw Centre)
• Laurence Jackson Sports Village (Guisborough).

There is also a small sided 3G FTP at the Herlingshaw Centre.

Redcar & Cleveland has a PPS, however it was completed in 2015 and therefore requires updating. Demand therefore for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38.

2018/9 FA affiliation data confirms that there are 250 teams in Redcar & Cleveland. This translates to a requirement for six full sized 3G FTPs. There are currently two leaving a theoretical shortfall of four. It should however be noted that Boro Rangers (currently playing at the Herlingshaw Centre with 56 teams) is seeking to develop a step 5 standard stadia 3G FTP and is considering site options in Middlesbrough. If this is realised the Redcar & Cleveland shortfall figure would reduce by around 1.5 full size 3G FTPs.

Both the current venues are available for community use and are on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). The spread is, however, uneven with Redcar the main settlement not being served by a full sized 3G FTP at present. East and Coastal Cleveland both of which contain pockets of rural deprivation are also poorly served.

Local consultation reveals common issues with limited availability and access and lack of match play on 3G and it is recommended that these are addressed .

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified comprising two full sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs; one each at the MFC Foundation and Redcar & Cleveland College and a small sided (7 v 7) 3G FTP proposal at the de Bruis centre catering for Skelton Utd. Whilst not meeting the full assessed shortfall of four, this is considered to be a realistic position given the potential relocation of Boro Rangers which would create extra capacity at the MFC Herlingshaw Centre.

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 14 grass pitch sites in Redcar & Cleveland with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 59 grass pitches.

Local consultation confirms the common issues with poor pitch quality; this needs to be addressed.

Of the 14 key pitch sites referenced it has been determined that three should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to nine pitches:

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified with pitch quality ratings ratified by local consultation. Prioritisation reflects the local strategic focus to improve local authority/club pitches.

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 14 key grass pitch sites in Redcar & Cleveland with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), nine have suitable changing rooms, three require improvement/replacement and two have no facilities and require a new changing rooms.

In addition, the new proposed 3G facility at Redcar & Cleveland College is likely to require changing room refurbishment.

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.

Consultation revealed that there are no indoor facilities that require improvement to develop small-sided football in Redcar & Cleveland.

Three potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. Alongside the proposed new small sided facility at MFC foundation (Herlingshaw Centre) the two proposals in East Cleveland also potential to link closely with MFC foundation activity. Both areas are former mining villages (Loftus & Carlin How) with relatively high proportions of people from lower social economic groups and corresponding high local demand for informal football:

Following local consultation, no locations have been identified to support small sided 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:

• Representative - Redcar Town
• Representative - Redcar Athletic
• Representative - Dormanstown FC
• Representative - Skelton United
• Representative - Guisborough Town Juniors
• Representative - Nunthorpe Athletic JFC
• Representative - Boro Rangers
• Principal - Redcar and Cleveland College
• Head of Communities - Beyond Housing
• Chief Executive - Redcar and Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency
• Partnership Manager - Redcar and Eston School Sports Partnership
• Assistant Partnership Development Manager - Redcar and Eston School Sports Partnership
• Partnership Manager - East Cleveland School Sports Partnership
• Community Health Development Co-ordinator - Redcar & Cleveland BC
• Principal Manger, Services to Schools, Redcar & Cleveland BC
• Planning Strategy Officer - Redcar & Cleveland BC
• Estates Surveyor - Redcar & Cleveland BC
• Youth Service Lead - Redcar & Cleveland BC
• Head of MFC Foundation
• Programme Director - Sport England South Tees Local Delivery Pilot Lead