Local Football Facility Plan Sandwell

Demographics for the area can be seen below:

Local Authority

The stated aim of the Sandwell Council Corporate Plan Vision 2030 is to create a thriving, optimistic and resilient authority. The Plan is underpinned by 10 key ambitions, of which two are related to sport and leisure:

• Ambition 2. For all residents to lead healthy active lives by encouraging people to take more responsibility for improving their own health and the health of their families.
• Ambition 8: To ensure that the six key towns in the Authority have successful centres of; community life, leisure and entertainment, with well kept parks and green spaces.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) has been updated in 2022. The Strategy identifies that there is a need for an additional 4.75 3G FTPs to service the number of clubs in Sandwell currently; this increasing to 5.50 3G FTPs. The Council has subsequently used the PPS to identify a detailed Options Appraisal for the Borough

County Football Association

Sandwell is covered by the Birmingham 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 Delivery Manager and 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 Albion Foundation use the power of West Bromwich Albion FC to deliver excellence in:

• Wellbeing,
• Behaviour Change
• Active Lifestyles

Local Leisure Operator

Sandwell Leisure Trust is the key leisure operator in Sandwell. It manages eight key sites, including Portway Lifestyle Centre and Hadley Stadium where 3G FTPs are located.

Local Consultation

Local consultation took place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in the original LFFP. The LFFP is being refreshed following the consultation and engagement undertaken as part of the recent Playing Pitch Strategy in 2022; the findings of which have been key to the refresh of this Plan.

Clubs

There are over 91,000 community football teams in England, spread over an expansive network of clubs and leagues. Sandwell has a total of 411 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 Sandwell, 11 clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2023/24 affiliation data) are:

• Oldbury United (35)
• Bustleholme FC (30)
• West Bromwich Albion Disability Adults (23)
• Perrywoods United Youth Sunday (22)
• Starz Academy (16)
• West Brom All Stars (13)

Leagues

Several leagues operate in Sandwell. They offer competitive opportunity for many different players, including women and girls, disability, youth and adults. While there are no specific league opportunities for junior within Sandwell, suitable provision provided in neighbouring Black Country Authority Areas, for example the Walsall Junior Youth Football League (WJYFL), which offers central venues for youth and mini football across the Black Country.

Sandwell's largest local leagues (2023/24) include:

• Sandwell Inclusion League
• Warley Sunday League
• West Midlands Powerchair Football League
• West Midlands Regional Women's Football League
• West Midlands Regional Girls Football League

The County FA reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Sandwell in part due to teams which play in the Walsall Junior Youth Football League. In addition, there is significant inward migration from teams to play in the Sandwell Inclusion 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 disabilities.

There is a strong infrastructure for disability football in Sandwell in terms of both a pan-disability league and club structures. Overall, the Sandwell Inclusion League (pan disability) has 52 teams amongst 18 clubs playing across Infants (u12’s), Juniors (u16’s) and adults leagues that play at Sandwell Academy and Adults at Portway Lifestyle Centre. Teams involved consist of The Albion Foundation, Aston Villa Foundation, Aspie, Cannock United, Telford United, Stourbridge, Stratford Town, Redditch United, Kidderminster Athletic, Leek Town, Solihull Moors, Birmingham Deaf, Kewford Eagles, Droitwich Spa, Hucclecote Youth and Newtown Sports (not all teams are within the Sandwell area).

It is a priority of the County FA to ensure there is sustainability for this provision. For talented players The FA runs regional centres and England national squads.

Mental Health Sessions within Sandwell include The Albion Foundations Team Talk sessions at Portway Lifestyle Centre on a Monday Evening.

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 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 2028, 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. Sandwell has three FA Wildcats girls football centres at Tantany Lions FC, Albion Foundation, and Oldbury United with the priority to grow this activity. FA Squad Girls' football sessions provide girls aged 12-14 with a fun, non-competitive way to play football locally with friends, whether completely new to football, transitioning from Wildcats, or simply wanting to play. Sandwell has FA Squad Girls' football sessions provided by Albion Foundation.

At 18, Sandwell’s number of female teams is higher than 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 West Midlands Regional Girl's Football 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 West Midlands Regional Women's Football League League in which 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 West Bromwich Albion which is located in the Authority. 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 Aston Villa; it 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. PlayZones will also fall into this category.

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:

• Leisure United Wednesbury
• Leisure Leagues at George Salter Academy

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 one FA Just Play centres in Sandwell, Real West Brom FC run FA Just Play at Goals in Rowley Regis. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Albion Foundation and Sandwell Leisure Trust. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes are also delivered by Albion Foundation. There are also PlayZone's within the area such as West Smethick Park.

The key strengths of local football in Sandwell include adult men and women's and disability provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps include the need for a junior league in the Authority.

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

1. Support the growth of junior male football via development of a dedicated league in the Authority
2. Continue to grow the women's game
3. Work with key organisations, such as the Albion Foundation to promote recreational football.
4. Develop futsal in the Authority.

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. An 11v11 3G caters for an average of 1,200 participants per week and is suitable for various location types. That means being fully inclusive to all sections of the community, with a particular focus on under-represented groups such as women and girls, people with a disability, BAME communities and people from lower socio-economic groups.

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

There are seven 11 v 11 3G FTPs in Sandwell, of which four are available for community use.

Existing 11 v 11 3G FTPs in Sandwell include:

• Hadley Stadium (1)
• Portway (1)
• Gospel Oak School (1)
• George Salter Academy (GSA) (1)
• Sandwell Academy (1)*
• West Bromwich Albion Academy (2)*

(*Not available to the community)

Additionally, there are currently five small-sided 3G FTP centres in Sandwell:

• Ferndale Primary School
• George Salter Academy (GSA)- 5v5 FTP
• Leisure United Wednesbury
• Warley Rugby Club
• Wednesbury Rugby Club - 5v5 FTP

Sandwell has a PPS undertaken in 2022 The PPS indicates that there is a current shortfall of 4.75 (rounded to 5) 11v11 3G FTPs.

All 11v11 pitches are good or standard quality and within their recommended lifespans.

Four of the seven pitches are available for community use. Pitches at Sandwell Academy and West Bromwich Albion Academy are unavailable. Four are on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the three remaining pitches are assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven; three are located within the Smethwick Analysis Area (although only one is available), with one in each of the Rowley Regis, Tipton and West Bromwich analysis areas. There are provision gaps in Oldbury or Wednesbury analysis areas, despite high levels of population / high levels of deprivation in this area and it is recommended that these are addressed.

A new full size 3G AGP has also been delivered at Windsor Olympus Academy, though this is currently without sports lighting and the potential for securing community use is currently being established. If this facility could be secured for community use with suitable sports lighting this could potentially address shortfalls of provision in the Smethwick sub area

Local consultation reveals some issues with low availability at certain sites and it is recommended that these are addressed.

Seven 11v11 3G FTP projects have been identified because in some areas there is more than one potential priority project to cater for current and future demand as well as any projects which may not be viable.

Eight priority projects (including seven 11v11 3G pitches) for potential investment are identified. There are ongoing discussions for other potential 3G projects at the following sites; Warley RFC, Hadley Stadium, West Smethwick Park, Former Brandhall Golf Course site, Hydes Road and Brandhall Primary School. Should any of the identified priority projects not become viable, these sites could be considered and will be subject to feasibility studies and needs analysis.

Each was selected based upon a rationale of good access, high population, geographic spread, existing facility quality, high levels of deprivation and high proportions of people from lower social economic groups:

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.

From the time of the original LFFP the introduction of PitchPower has allowed all Club owned and leased sites to apply for funding to improve grass pitch maintenance.

Some clubs/sites have since been awarded Football Foundation investment through the Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund, which should result in pitch quality improving over the next couple of seasons. The aim now should be to get the pitches up to the 'good' standard and work to sustain them. Clubs that have accessed the funding to improve pitches are:

• Oldbury United FC for Cakemore Playing Fields
• Avery FC for St Johns Pitches
• Bustleholme FC for Bustleholme Playing Fields
• Brandhall Primary School
• Holyhead Primary School

The priority now is to concentrate on those local authority owned sites that require improvements and agree sustainable solutions for pitch maintenance going forward. The first step is to ensure that all pitches have a baseline quality assessment done via PitchPower. There are eight key pitch sites and it was determined that all of these should be prioritised for improvements. This will result in quality improvements to 30 pitches.

There are currently 16 grass pitch sites in the local area that contain 137 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 (including schools) and of strategic importance to football locally. Of these, 12 sites that contain 37 grass pitches have been assessed via PitchPower; 11 are known to have advanced or good quality pitches, 17 are of basic quality and eight are poor quality.

Lion Farm is a key site for football which is home to 11 grass pitches and a pavilion. This site is operated by Warley Sunday League and used regularly throughout the weekend. There is currently a piece of work ongoing to find mitigation in the Sandwell area for the potential loss of this site, which has been identified for potential residential and commercial development.

The following club owned or operated sites remain a priority for grass pitch investment and are eligible for the Football Foundation's Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund:

• Tipton Sports Academy

There are a number of other sites which are presently under Council management, with the following which are priorities for Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund, on the basis that the Council would look to improve facilities onsite to support the Club:

• Cakemore Playing Fields (Oldbury United FC)

The priority now is to concentrate on the above sites that require improvements and agree sustainable solutions for pitch maintenance going forward. The first step is to ensure that all pitches have a baseline quality assessment done via PitchPower.

The following sites are already being developed without funding via the Football Foundation:

• Tividale Park
• Thimblemill

Of the 16 key club/league/community pitch sites referenced above it was determined that eight of these should be prioritised for improvements, along with three education sites. A further eight local authority managed sites should be prioritised for improvements, some which may hold opportunity for future transfer to club/league-led management and maintenance models. In total this will result in quality improvements to 82 pitches.

Eight priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PitchPower or the PPS and ratified by local partners where PitchPower data isn't available. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites to improve local authority and club managed pitches, as well as education sites which have community use or could have more.

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 16 key grass pitch sites in Sandwell with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), nine sites have suitable changing rooms, five sites require improvement/replacement and two have no facilities and require new changing rooms (Hydes Road Playing Fields and Britannia Park).

Eight 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 Sandwell the starting point for priority places, identified through Active Through Football and Local Authority work around deprivation and inactivity, is the Borough's six towns:

• Oldbury
• Rowley Regis
• Smethwick
• Tipton
• Wednesbury
• West Bromwich

West Smethwick Park in Smethwick is currently the frontrunner project and is progressing.

The key priority groups in Sandwell are:

• Women and girls
• People with a disability and/or long term health condition
• People from low socio-economic backgrounds
• Ethnically diverse groups.

This priority group of places and people will be ratified through consultation 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.

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council submitted an expression of interest to be part of the PlayZone programme. It is in Phase 1 of the Programme . As lead organisation, the Council will lead the PlayZone consortia to agree the project management approach, agree priority audiences and places and agree the approach to community engagement.

Priority projects for PlayZones are:

1. Victoria Park- Tipton
2. Victoria Park- Smethwick
3. Tividale Park
4. Oakwood Park
5. Bearmore Park
6. Jubilee Park
7. Windmill/SAFS Play Area
8. Lewisham Park

A range of local agencies were invited to participate in the LFFP consultation. Those that contributed are listed below. Clubs were consulted via the Playing Pitch Strategy process.

• Sandwell Council
• Birmingham County FA
• Sport England
• Football Foundation
• Black Country Consortium
• The Albion Foundation