Local Football Facility Plan Rushmoor

Rushmoor is in the South Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2018 Mid-Year Estimate) is 95,142. This is expected to rise to 98,669 by 2039.

Rushmoor is ranked 29 out of 67 LAs in the region, and 197 out of 317 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (85 %). This is comparable to the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Rushmoor's population represented by the BAME community is 15 %. This is similar to the national average (14.6%)

Local Authority

The Rushmoor Council Your Future, Your Place strategy document outlines a vision for Aldershot and Farnborough during the time frame 2019-2030. It sets out six major ambitions for the future of Aldershot and Farnborough, which are:

• Vibrant and distinctive town centres
• Housing for every stage of life
• Strong communities, proud of our area
• Healthy and green lifestyles
• A growing local economy - kind to the environment
• Opportunities for everyone - quality education and a skilled local workforce

To encourage healthy lifestyles, the Authority is committed to providing high quality leisure facilities and open green spaces which serve their respective communities. This includes the redevelopment of Farnborough Leisure Centre.

The Authority does not have a current playing pitch strategy. Its last iteration was produced in 2014 and because it is so dated, it is not referenced in this plan.

County football association

Rushmoor is covered by the Hampshire 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). There is no active CCO in Rushmoor.

Local leisure operator

Places Leisure is the key leisure operator in Rushmoor. It currently runs a number of key sites including Aldershot Pools & Fitness Centre and Farnborough Leisure Centre.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad set of community groups in Rushmoor. Ten individuals (representing ten local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Rushmoor Council
• A number of local football clubs

(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. Rushmoor has a total of 187 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 ten years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Rushmoor, seven clubs have more than ten registered teams. These (based upon 2019-20 affiliation data) are:

• Aldershot Boys & Girls -13
• Cove - 24
• Farnborough Youth- 10
• Junior Shots- 16
• Rushmoor Community - 45
• Rushmoor Saints Youth - 10
• Traco Athletic Juniors- 14

Leagues

Four main leagues cater for clubs and teams in Rushmoor offering competitive opportunities for youth and adults males. These are:

• Aldershot and District Football League- home and away
• Aldershot and Camberley Sunday Football League - home and away
• North East Hants Development league- home and away
• North East Hants Comp- home and away

Female and disability league provision is delivered on a county basis. The County FA reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Rushmoor primarily due to teams playing in/at central venue leagues in Surrey and in neighbouring Hampshire 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 Rushmoor 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. Rushmoor has six FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 26, Rushmoor’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 Hampshire Girls Youth League in which matches are played on a home and away and central venue basis. It is expected to grow provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Hampshire County Women’s League. Its matches are played on a home and away basis and it also expects to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA regional talent club (RTC) is Reading. 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 also Reading 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 include Farnborough 6 a Side League- Samuel Cody School.

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 three affiliated futsal teams in Rushmoor. 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 four FA Just Play centres in Rushmoor. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation including Cove FC.

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 Rushmoor is played across a number of sites in the key population areas of Farnborough and Aldershot.

The key strengths of local football in Rushmoor include adult male and youth football; this should be sustained and encouraged to grow further. However, provision gaps include women and girls, disability and recreational football opportunities. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Rushmoor are to:

1. Sustain male youth and adult football
2. Increase the number of women's and girls teams.
3. Continue to grow futsal participation.
4. Increase the number of Just Play centres.
5. Support the development of disability opportunity.

The facilities required to assist this are now set out in the Assets and opportunities section. Priority projects that progress to become a funding application via the Football Foundation produce detailed ‘site development plans’ specifying all football development activity, usage and key partner engagement.

This section reviews existing football facility assets in Rushmoor. 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 investment priorities are 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 full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Rushmoor are located at:

• Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre
• Alderwood Leisure Centre
• The Samuel Cody Specialist Sport College
• Salesian College (not available for community use)

In addition, there are two small-sided 3G FTP centres:

• Aldershot Pools (5v5)
• Cove FC (7v7)

There is no current PPS and, therefore, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38.

On the basis that there are 178 teams in Rushmoor, there is a requirement for five full sized 3G FTPs. There are currently three and there is, thus a shortfall of two.

Three of the four full sized 3G FTPs listed above are available for community use and on the FA Register (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). Salesian College is a private school with a self funded 3G FTP. Consultation indicates that, at present, the School has no plans to make its facility available for community use.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is even; the key population centres of Farnborough and Aldershot are served by facilities. However, certain key clubs within these areas have witnessed rapid growth over the past few years and additional facilities are considered to be required to support them to address the current shortfall.

One example is Rushmoor Community FC. It currently has 45 teams, and is presently utilising a variety of different facilities to accommodate training and match play demand. Consultation has confirmed that this club merits a dedicated facility to underpin and support its growth.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified; one new full sized 3G FTP to support Rushmoor Community FC and the resurfacing of Cove FC's 7v7 3G FTP.

Further work is required to identify a feasible site to meet the remaining shortfall of one full sized 3G FTP.

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 Rushmoor with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 32 grass pitches. Of these, three are considered to have good quality pitches and the other six are of either standard or poor quality.

Of the nine sites referenced, five are prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to 21 pitches:

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced via consultation and ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites incorporating poor and standard quality 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 nine key grass pitch sites in Rushmoor with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) five have suitable changing rooms and three require improvement/replacement. Cove FC's changing facilities will need to be upgraded, however, this will be funded through FSIF.

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 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 suggests that one indoor facility requires improvement to develop small-sided football. Rushmoor Futsal Development Centre has ambitions to relocate to Farnborough Leisure Centre following the centre's redevelopment. It is currently operating in the neighbouring authority of Hart.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no MUGAs or open green spaces require improvement to develop small sided 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:

• Rushmoor Council
• Rushmoor Futsal Development Centre
• Rushmoor Community FC
• Cove Youth FC
• Farnborough FC
• Aldershot Boys & Girls
• Farnborough Youth FC
• Junior Shots
• Rushmoor Saints Youth
• Traco Athletic Juniors