Local Football Facility Plan Sevenoaks

Sevenoaks is in the South East region.

The current population of the authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 120,293. This is expected to rise to 133,261 by 2039.

Sevenoaks is ranked 34th most deprived out of 67 LAs in the region, and 272nd out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS) .

Sevenoaks' ethnic composition is primarily white (96%). This is higher to the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Sevenoaks population represented by the BAME community is 4%. This is below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

Sevenoaks District Council’s Local Plan is at examination stage and includes the following objective in relation to leisure

The Local Plan aims to improve the quality of the District’s existing leisure facilities. It is important to protect open spaces that provide value to the local community''

The local authority has a Playing Pitch Strategy in place; this was adopted in 2018. It determined that there was an over-supply of pitches across the entire district , however this is accompanied by a district wide under supply of Youth 11v11 pitches and youth 9v9 pitches very close to capacity. The PPS also determined that there is an under supply of four full size FTPs.

County football association

Sevenoaks is covered by the Kent 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 Sevenoaks .

Local leisure operator

Sencio Community Leisure is the key leisure operator in Sevenoaks. It currently runs leisure centre sites in Sevenoaks, Edenbridge and Swanley.

Local consultation

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

• Sevenoaks Town Council
• Swanley Town Council
• Ide Hill 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. Sevenoaks has a total of 284 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 Sevenoaks, 7 clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Chipstead - 26 teams
• Hartley De Sales - 12 teams
• Ide Hill - 11 teams
• Otford United Juniors - 11 teams
• Sevenoaks Town FC - 61 teams
• Swanley Rangers - 12 teams
• Westerham Junior - 22 teams

Leagues

One league operates in Sevenoaks. While there are no specific league opportunities for women & girls, there is however suitable provision provided within specific leagues. It has been highlighted that there is a lack of league provision for youth football in the area.

Largest local leagues (2018-19) include:

• Sevenoaks And District Football League – 50 teams – Home and Away

The County FA reports that there is significant cross boundary migration in Sevenoaks due to teams migrating outwards to the:

• Ashford And District Youth League
• Crowborough & District Junior Football League
• Isthmian Football League
• Isthmian Youth Football League
• Kent County Football League
• Kent Girls/Ladies Football League
• Kent Youth League
• Maidstone Boys Primary
• Maidstone Invicta Primary League
• Maidstone Minor Football League
• Medway Messenger Youth League
• North Kent Sunday League
• Orpington and Bromley District Sunday Football League
• Redhill & District Sunday League
• Rochester & District Football League
• Rother & District Youth Football League
• Sevenoaks And District Football League
• South East Counties Womens League
• South East Counties Youth Championship
• South East London & Kent Youth League
• South East Powerchair Football League
• Southern Counties East Football League
• Southern Veterans League
• Suburban Football League
• Tandridge Youth Football League
• West Kent Sunday League
• Wheelchair Football Association National League

Disability football

There are 9.4million 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 Sevenoaks there are three football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to sustain 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. Sevenoaks has 2 FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At ten, Sevenoaks 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 Kent Girls/Ladies Football League and matches are played on a home and away basis. The league is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female leagues are the Kent Girls/Ladies Football League and South East Counties Womens League and matches are played on a home and away and the league is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Gillingham FC which is located in Swale. 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 Brighton & Hove Albion Women FC 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.

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.

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced, small sided team game that is widely played across the world. Typically it’s 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 Futsal is available across the country.

There are currently no futsal teams in Sevenoaks. It is a priority for the County FA to sustain Futsal for youth 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 Sevenoaks. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisations such as Sevenoaks Town FC. Walking football and Just Play are areas that the County FA has prioritised for further growth and development.

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).

The key strengths of local football in Sevenoaks include Youth and Mini Soccer and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist; these include Youth Futsal and league provision for youth football.

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

1. Support the transition of Youth teams to progress to Adult Male 11v11 leagues.
2. Develop league format for Youth Teams.
3. Ensure club structures are in place to grow in line with the housing growth.
4. Develop comprehensive support to volunteers to allow clubs to retain, grow and provide opportunity to all.
5. Increase Women & Girls provision through informal ladies sessions and FA Wildcats programme.

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 Sevenoaks. 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.

There is one existing full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Sevenoaks The Bourne Amenity Stadium (Sevenoaks Town FC).

It should be noted that the pitch at Knole Academy is 100m x 50m and therefore too narrow to be considered a full size pitch. There are two further small sided pitches at Corinthians Sports Club 1 x 40 x 50m, 1 x 20 x 25 m)

Sevenoaks has a PPS undertaken in 2018. The PPS indicates that there is a shortfall of 5 full size 3G FTPs when considering demand up to 2035 and that new pitches should be provided on the basis of one full size 3G FTP per each of the following analysis areas:

• North West
• North East
• Sevenoaks and surrounds
• Upper Darent corridor.
• Darent Valley

Both of the current pitches 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 geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven; with both pitches being located in the vicinity of Sevenoaks town.

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

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified. One of these is the conversion of an existing sand based pitch at Orchards academy , in the North West analysis area. The remaining proposals provide 1 full size 3G FTP in each of the remaining four analysis areas of ; North East, Upper Darent Corridor, Sevenoaks & Surrounds and Darent Valley. Each was selected based upon a rationale of good access, high population and geographic spread.

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 16 grass pitch sites in Sevenoaks district with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance), containing 45 grass pitches.

Local consultation shows common issues with low availability and it is recommended that these are addressed.

Of the 16 key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that five of these should be prioritised for improvements. This will result in quality improvements to 12 pitches:

Five priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition.

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 Sevenoaks with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), 12 sites have suitable changing rooms, meanwhile three sites require improvement/replacement and one project requires a new build pavilion.

Four 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, at present, no indoor facilities require improvement to develop small sided football.

Three potential opportunities for MUGAs have been identified, at Sevenoaks Community Centre , Fordecombe Village Hall and the KGV field in Westerham. Each project is located in relatively rural / semi rural location with a corresponding high local demand for informal football:

Following local consultation with Sevenoaks Town Council , the provision of small goals in the towns popular open and green spaces was identified as a potential route to increasing participation in informal / recreational 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 - Sevenoaks Town FC
• Representative - Chipstead FC
• Representative - Chipstead Junior Girls FC
• Representative - Hartley De Sales FC
• Representative - Ide Hill FC
• Representative - Otford United Juniors
• Representative - Sevenoaks Town FC
• Clerk - Halstead Parish Council
• Clerk - Hextable Parish Council
• Representative - AFC Unity
• Representative - Swanley Town Council
• Representative - Sevenoaks Town Council
• Clerk - Horton Kirby Parish Council

Club survey responses

• Corinthian Football Club
• Longfield Raiders F.C
• Swanley FC
• Eynsford FC
• Dartford Celtic FC
• Chipstead (Kent)
• Green Street Green Rovers FC
• Nomads Association FC