Local Football Facility Plan Ribble Valley

Ribble Valley is in the North West region.

The current population of the authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 58,826. This is expected to rise to 61,311 by 2039.

Ribble Valley is ranked 39 out of 39 LAs in the region, and 290 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Ribble Valley's ethnic composition is primarily white (97.85%). This is significantly higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Ribble Valley’s population represented by the BAME community is 2.15%. This is significantly lower than the national average (14.6%).

Local authority

The Ribble Valley Local Plan (2008-2028) was adopted in 2014. It sets out the vision and framework for development in the Borough until 2036. With a predicted growing population the Core Strategy seeks to ensure that important infrastructure is in place to support future need such as new homes, employment, healthcare, transport and leisure; while protecting the Borough's important and valued green spaces and heritage assets.

The local authority does not currently have a playing pitch strategy (PPS) in place.

County football association

Ribble Valley is covered by the Lancashire 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). On occasion, The Blackburn Rovers FC, Accrington Stanley FC and Burnley FC Community Trusts run a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

Ribble Valley's leisure centres are operated in house by the council . It currently runs two sites; Edisford Sports Complex, and Ribblesdale Swimming Pool. Edisford Sports Complex has facilities including; a full size 3G FTP (currently being built, work to be completed autumn 2019), two 5v5 3G FTPs (refurbished in summer 2019), and seven full size equivalent grass pitches which are used for affiliated match play.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Ribble Valley. 12 individuals (representing 11 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Ribble Valley Borough Council
• Clitheroe Wolves FC
• Langho FC
• Whalley Juniors FC.

(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. Ribble Valley has a total of 184 teams, which is higher than local areas of a similar size.

The FA is investing to support clubs both on and off the pitch which includes an aim to have a qualified FA coach with every youth team by 2020/21. In addition, it will support 1,000 clubs to create full player pathways from youth to adult teams and develop 150 community football hubs with male and female pathways, disability and recreational playing opportunities.

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Ribble Valley, eight clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Clitheroe Wolves FC - 46 teams
• Langho FC - 28 teams
• Whalley Juniors FC - 11 teams
• Wilpshire Wanderers FC - 22 teams
• Whalley Juniors FC - 11 teams
• Chipping FC - 10 teams
• Longridge Town FC - 10 teams
• Readstone United FC -10 teams

Leagues

There are no leagues that operate solely in Ribble Valley but while there are no specific league opportunities within the local area, there is however suitable provision provided in neighbouring Burnley, Hyndburn and Blackburn. There is also provision provided in neighbouring areas (Preston) through the Lancashire FA Ability Counts League.

The County FA reports that there is significant cross boundary migration as stated above in Ribble Valley due to teams migrating outwards to the East Lancashire Football Alliance and East Lancashire Football League, Blackburn and District Football Combination, Accrington and District Junior Football League. Additionally, some teams also participate in the West Lancashire Football League.

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 Ribble Valley there are no 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 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. Ribble Valley has no FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At ten, Ribble Valley’s number of female teams is comparable to local areas of a similar size. The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league is the North Valley & Ribble Valley Unity League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Lancashire FA Women's County 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 Blackburn Rovers FC which is located in Blackburn with Darwen. 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 teams are Manchester United and Manchester City which provide player pathway opportunities for gifted and talented female players and a spectator interest for fans. In addition, Blackburn Rovers FC has a team which plays is the FA Women's Championship and provides similar player/spectator interests for the local area.

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:

• Edisford Sports Complex

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 no Futsal teams in Ribble Valley. It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal for all players.

Recreational football

Recreational football is played where facilities are typically booked and there might be someone to help organise. Examples include FA Just Play sessions, walking football and casual pitch hire for small-sided match play.

There are currently no FA Just Play centres in Ribble Valley. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Accrington Stanley FC, Burnley FC and Blackburn FC Community Trust's. Walking football and Just Play are areas that the County FA has prioritised for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include pro-club community scheme activity Kicks which are delivered by a range of organisations including the above named community trusts.

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 Ribble Valley is played across the local area. Clitheroe Castle Grounds and Longridge Recreation Ground are key well-used site locations.

The key strengths of local football in Ribble Valley include strong clubs delivering youth football with pathways for adult football provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist and these include small sided football, access to recreational football and opportunities for Women and Girls in particular.

It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Ribble Valley are:

1. Development of 3G full size and small sided facilities to meet a shortfall, with particular emphasis on geographical reach.
2. Investment and improvement of club facilities, including changing pavilions and flexible spaces.
3. Investment and development of grass pitch improvement at key sites.
4. Development of recreational and small sided facilities to engage diverse groups.

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 in Ribble Valley. It identifies current issues and presents opportunities for improvements, including a list of priority projects for potential investment.

Local assets and opportunities have been reviewed in line with four investment priorities:

• 3G FTPs
• Improved grass pitches
• Changing room pavilions / clubhouses
• Small sided facilities

To ensure a consistent and high quality approach, each local area has been reviewed applying a standard approach, supplemented by input from consultation with local partners and stakeholder organisations.

While each investment priority is reviewed individually, it is understood that they can be inter-reliant; account is, thus, taken of these potential connections.

3G FTPs are a high quality and indispensable part of modern football facilities; their impact cannot be underestimated. In recent years the industry has seen major innovations and improvements to artificial surfaces (and sports lighting). This has created playing surfaces that replicate a good standard natural turf pitch whilst significantly increasing levels of use (x20). All FTPs must have sports lighting to achieve this.

The high quality, consistent playing surface is the ideal environment to play the game and for young people to learn. With regular maintenance programmes, FTPs can be heavily used all year round with no decline in quality. They almost completely negate annoying fixture cancellations during winter months, helping football to be a key part of a regular physical activity habit.

High capacity levels offer a great opportunity to embrace all formats and engage all participants. A full-sized 3G caters for an average of 1,200 participants per week and is suitable for various location types. That means being fully inclusive to all sections of the community, with a particular focus on under-represented groups such as women and girls, people with a disability, BAME communities and people from lower socio-economic groups.

The way 3G FTPs are used is rapidly changing; current line-marking systems allow for match play across all formats of football (5v5, 7v7, 9v9 and 11v11). This enables significant levels of match-play to be transferred from grass to 3G.

The one full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTP in Ribble Valley is located at:

• Clitheroe Grammar School

In addition, there are three small-sided 3G FTPs in Ribble Valley:

• Langho FC (The Ryhddings) (one 5v5)
• Edisford Sports Centre (two 5v5)

Further to the above, work commenced in spring 2019 on the installation of a full size (11v11) 3G FTP at Edisford Sports Complex. This is being undertaken without funding via the Football Foundation. This facility should help cater for some demand in the Clitheroe area of the Authority and a community use programme has been proposed for the new facility.

As noted above, the Authority has no PPS. As a result, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using FA 3G demand modelling. Based upon the FA training demand model (1:38) and taking into consideration the above-mentioned development at Edisford Sports Complex, there is a shortfall of four full-sized 3G FTPs relative to assessed demand. The existing full size 3G FTP at Clitheroe Grammar School is currently unavailable for community use, it is highly recommended that community use options are explored at this site. Until this has been resolved it was decided to remove the 3G FTP at Clitheroe Grammar from the supply and demand picture for the area. The other existing facilities are considered to be community accessible.

The 5V5 FTP at Langho FC is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that they have been quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the other existing 3G FTPs and any future developments (full sized and/or small sided) are assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.


The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven; there are provision gaps in the south, west and central areas of the borough despite affiliated club demand. Local consultation confirms the limited availability of 3G FTPs, especially for affiliated training slots. It should be noted that due to lack of current provision and the rural nature of Ribble Valley, there are a number of affiliated teams that train at 3G facilities in neighbouring local authorities. This should be taken into consideration as part of the feasibility for new 3G FTP developments in Ribble Valley.

Four priority projects for potential investment are identified. This breaks down into one site specific and three non site specific (area wide) full size FTP project listings. Full feasibility appraisals to determine the best locations are still required for the three non site specific projects:

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 nine grass pitch sites in Ribble Valley with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 35 grass pitches.

Local consultation confirms common issues associated with poor pitch quality to address.

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

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified. This will result in quality improvements to 14 pitches.

Due the lack of an up to date PPS, pitch quality ratings were evidenced via club/council consultation. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition, that were, or offered the potential to be, best utilised and which serve key local communities:

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 nine key grass pitch sites in Ribble Valley with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), four sites have suitable changing rooms, three sites require improvement/replacement and one has no facilities and requires a new changing pavilion.

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified:

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

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

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

Informal players require facilities that are open and free to access as this enables play opportunities that are often spontaneous. In these circumstances 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 indicates that no indoor facilities currently require improvement to develop small sided football.

One potential opportunity for MUGAs are identified. The rationale is based on the site being in an area of substantial population density with limited green space and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

Following local consultation, and assisted by the Sport England green spaces mapping tool, one location has been identified to support small sided informal football.

A range of local agencies and larger (usually 10 plus teams) local football clubs were invited to participate in the LFFP consultation. Those that contributed are listed below:

• Club Representative - Clitheroe Wolves FC
• Club Representative - Langho FC
• Club Representative - Longridge Town FC
• Club Representative - Readstone United FC
• Club Representative - Whalley Juniors FC
• Club Representative - Wilpshire Wanderers FC
• Community Leisure & Sports Development Manager - Ribble Valley Borough Council
• Deputy CEO - Blackburn Rovers FC Community Trust
• Engagement Manager - Football Foundation
• Football Development Officer (Ribble Valley) - Lancashire Football Association
• Head of Facilities & Investment - Lancashire Football Association
• Sports Development Officer - Ribble Valley Borough Council