Local Football Facility Plan South Holland

South Holland is in the East Midlands region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 93,295. This is expected to rise to 104,446 by 2039.

South Holland is ranked 15th out of 40 LAs in the region, and 135th out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

South Holland's ethnic composition is primarily white (97.85%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of South Holland’s population represented by the BAME community is 2.15%. This is below the national average (14.6%).

At 38%, the percentage of South Holland's population classed as 'inactive' is significantly above both regional and national levels.

Local authority

The South Holland Council Corporate Plan (2019-2023) sets out a vision of South Holland being 'A Place of Prosperity, Wellbeing and Opportunity for All'. It identifies four priority areas; 'your health and wellbeing', 'your home', 'your place' and 'your opportunities'.

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As part of 'your places' the Council states it will:

• Lead, enable and embed the provision of a range of improved local community, cultural, art and newly contracted leisure facilities that support the enhanced wellbeing of South Holland’s communities.
• Support the expansion and growth of Spalding and Holbeach to be attractive places where people want to visit, live and work whilst supporting all other towns and villages in the district to meet the needs of their communities.
• Create further outdoor spaces and woodlands to enhance the natural environment and to encourage our communities to have active lifestyles.

As part of 'your health and wellbeing' the Council states it will:

• Target leisure facilities to provide a programme of activities to tackle obesity and inactivity in South Holland.
• Lead and support activities and partnerships to address key local health and wellbeing issues such as mental health, housing, health and increasing physical activity.
• Provide advice and recommend interventions to help improve the health and wellbeing of the district’s residents, communities and workforce.
• Work with partners to influence and lead early intervention activities to support, reduce and prevent complex needs.
• Proactively influence the Lincolnshire Sustainable Transformation Programme being delivered by the NHS to ensure the best health outcomes for South Holland.

As part of 'your opportunities' the Council states it will:

• Proactively work with partners to identify and optimise funding opportunities that will draw resources into the district to support plans for substantial and continued growth .

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy is currently at Stage D of its development and is thus nearing competition and subsequent adoption.

The key findings and stated overarching priorities are to address shortfalls in youth and mini pitches, address the current complete absence of 3G FTPs, to address training demand and potentially competitive match play provision, improve poor and standard quality pitches to increase carrying capacity and improve ancillary provision at key sites. There is also a need to tackle the issue that more than one-quarter of the pitches that offer community use across the district do not provide clubs with adequate security of tenure.

The PPS also highlights that unmet demand is most likely a result of:

• Teams may have access to a pitch for matches but nowhere to train or vice versa.
• Pitches of a particular size or type may be unavailable to the community.
• The poor quality and consequent limited capacity of pitches in the area and/or a lack of provision and ancillary facilities which meet a certain standard of play/league requirement.

County football association

South Holland is covered by the Lincolnshire 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.

Active Partnerships

Active Lincolnshire is the Active Partnership for the county of Lincolnshire. Their mission is to get everyone, every day more physically active. They have a remit to support people of all ages and background to improve their health and wellbeing by taking part in regular physical activity supporting Sport England’s Towards an Active Nation strategy.

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 South Holland.

Local leisure operator

Parkwood Leisure is the key leisure operator in South Holland. It currently runs two sports centres.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in South Holland. 15 individuals (representing 13 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Sutton Bridge Parish Council
• Positive Futures
• Spalding Grammar School
• Surfleet Play and Recreation Charity (SPARC)

(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. South Holland has a total of 109 teams, which is lower 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 South Holland, three clubs have more than ten registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Holbeach United Youth - 19 teams
• Pinchbeck United (Juniors/Ladies) - 17 teams
• Spalding United Youth – 12 teams

Leagues

Several leagues operate across South Holland however only one is specific to the South Holland area, this is the Spalding & District Sunday League (10 teams). It offers competitive opportunity for adult male players. The largest local leagues which operate across South Holland and beyond (2018-19) include:

• Lincoln Co-Op Mid Lincs Youth League - Male & Female provision – 398 teams total with 5 teams from South Holland– Home and away / central venue / central venue at multiple sites - All
• Boston & District Saturday Football League – 49 teams in total with 4 teams from South Holland– Home and away.

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to/from South Holland due to teams migrating outwards to play in the Peterborough & District Junior Alliance League / Peterborough & District Football League / Peterborough & District Youth League / S-Tech County Girls & Womens Football League / The Mid Norfolk Youth 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 South Holland there are no football teams 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. South Holland has one FA Wildcats girls football centre and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 11, South Holland’s number of female teams is comparable to local areas of a similar size. The County FA priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league from Under 12’s upwards is the Lincoln Co-Op Mid Lincs Youth League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. League provision for Under 11’s and below is the Lincolnshire Girls & Goals League. Both are expected to grow provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Lincolnshire Womens County Football League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years. The majority of women and girls teams play ‘out of county’ in the leagues specified above.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Nottingham Forest Ladies which is located in Nottinghamshire. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads. The nearest local Women’s Super League team is Leicester City 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.

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. There is currently no affiliated small sided provision in this area.

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 South Holland. It is a priority for the County FA to provide futsal opportunity 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 South Holland. There are also no affiliated walking football teams in East Lindsey. Both have been prioritised for further growth and development by the County FA. Other local recreational football opportunity includes facility bookings accommodated by a range of organisations.

Informal football

Informal football is played in local parks and green spaces – it is free, open access and often played spontaneously (normal clothing is worn). Common examples include a kick-about at a local park or on a multi-use games area (MUGA). Currently, informal football in South Holland is played across local parks within the local authority.

The key strength of local football in South Holland is adult male provision including Spalding & District Sunday League, this provision needs to be sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist these include FA Just Play centres, small sided opportunity, female provision inclusive of SSE Wildcats, Walking Football and disability provision.

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

1. Just Play centres
2. Small sided opportunity
3. Female football provision – SSE Wildcats
4. Walking football
5. Disability football

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

In addition, 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 South Holland. 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 currently no full-sized (11v11) or small sized 3G FTP in South Holland.

South Holland's emerging PPS indicates that there is a shortfall of three (rounded up from 2.8) full sized 3G FTPs. This is based on the FA training ratio model (1:38) on the basis there are 109 teams in South Holland. This being said, based on some demand being located in more rural areas of the District such as Crowland, where a full size 3G FTP may not be sustainable, providing two full size 3G FTPs within more densely populated areas and a small sized 3G FTP at Crowland is likely to better fit demand.

Local consultation understandably reveals common issues with low availability and substantial travel times to play on artificial turf due to the absence of 3G FTPs in the area and it is recommended that this is tackled.

It is strongly recommended that any 3G FTPs developed are placed on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they will be quality checked and can thus be used for football match play).

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified - to serve key district settlements which presently have no access to 3G FTPs.

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%) ntend 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 four grass pitch sites in South Holland with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 13 grass pitches. Of these, one is considered to have good quality pitches and three are of standard quality.

In addition to the three grass pitch sites identified above which need investment, there are three brand new sites. One is in Sutton Bridge, the second is in Pinchbeck and the third is an extension to the existing Holbeach United Community Sports Academy site that will also require pitch improvements.

Of the key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that two should be prioritised along with the proposed new sites. This will result in quality improvements to six pitches plus the new grass pitch provision (exact number and configurations yet to be determined).

Local consultation highlights some issues with carrying capacity on sites for larger clubs and it is recommended that this addressed.

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and ratified by local partners.

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 four key grass pitch sites in South Holland with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but of strategic importance), three have suitable changing rooms and one has a pavilion which requires improvement. Further to this, should a 3G FTP be developed at Castle Leisure Centre changing facilities at this site would require improvement.

In addition to the four key sites identified above, the proposed brand new site in Sutton Bridge will also require a new build pavilion.

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 indicates one indoor facilitiy that requires improvement to develop small sided football. This is at Spalding Grammar School.

Two potential opportunities for MUGA development are identified. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in an area of relatively high population density, with a substantial proportion of people from lower social economic groups and corresponding high local demand for informal football:

Following local consultation, no location has, at this time, been identified to support small sided informal football.

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

• Senior Project Lead - Active Lincolnshire
• Secretary & Child Welfare Officer - Crowland JFC
• Migrant Worker Group (Citizens Advice South Lincolnshire)
• Secretary - Holbeach United YFC
• Strategic Program Manager - Lincolnshire County Council
• School Games Organiser - Lincolnshire School Games and Stay Safe Partnership
• Secretary - Pinchbeck United FC
• Community Sports Worker - Positive Futures
• Community Development Manager - South Holland District Council
• Place Manager - South Holland District Council
• Communities Manager - South Holland District Council
• Headteacher - South View Primary School
• Secretary - Spalding United FC
• Director of Sport - Spalding Grammer School
• Surfleet Play and Recreation Charity (SPARC)
• Parish Clerk - Sutton Bridge PC