Local Football Facility Plan Spelthorne

Spelthorne is in the South East region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 99,120. This is expected to rise to 108,879 by 2039.

Spelthorne is ranked 30 out of 67 LAs in the region, and 229 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Spelthorne's ethnic composition is primarily white (87.3%). This is slightly higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Spelthorne's population represented by the BAME community is 12.7%. This is just below the national average (14.6%).

Local authority

Spelthorne Borough Council is currently preparing a new Local Plan to deliver housing, employment and other types of development to meet local need between the period 2020 - 2035.

It is also currently developing its PPS. Once completed, the PPS will act as the evidence base for the LFFP.

County football association

Spelthorne is covered by the Middlesex 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)

There is no active CCO in Spelthorne.

Local leisure operator

Everyone Active is the key leisure operator in Spelthorne. It currently runs a number of key sites in Spelthorne including:

• Spelthorne Leisure Centre
• Sunbury Leisure Centre

Local consultation

This has taken place with a diverse set of community groups in Spelthorne. Six individuals (representing five local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Matthew Arnold Sports Centre
• Staines Lammas and Laleham and Kempton FC
• Ashford Town (Middx) FC
• Thomas Kynvett College

(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. Spelthorne has a total of 149 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 Spelthorne, five clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Ashford Town (Middx) FC - 38 teams
• Staines Lammas Youth FC (26) / Laleham & Kempton FC (8) - 34 teams
• Spelthorne Sports Youth FC - 17 teams
• Staines Town Juniors FC - 16 teams
• Halliford Colts FC - 13 teams

Leagues

Eight leagues operate in Spelthorne. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. While there are no specific league opportunities for disability within Spelthorne, suitable provision is made in neighbouring Hillingdon.

The larger leagues serving clubs and teams from Spelthorne (2018-19) include:

• Surrey Primary Youth league– home and away
• Surrey Youth League - home and away
• Surrey County Womens and Girls league– home and away

The County FA reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Spelthorne primarily due to teams affiliating to and playing in Surrey-based leagues.

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 Spelthorne there is one football team / session 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. Spelthorne has four FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 13, Spelthorne’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 Surrey County Womens and Girls 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 Greater London Women's Football League; it too plays matches on a home and away basis and is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Chelsea which is located in Cobham. 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 Chelsea 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:

• Powerleague Sunbury on Thames
• Heathrow Goals

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 five futsal teams in Spelthorne that play in the Youth Futsal Cup. It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal for all players.

Recreational football

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

There are currently no FA Just Play centres in Spelthorne. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Staines Town Strollers. Walking football and Just Play have been prioritised by the County FA for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include social business leagues run out of Ashford Hockey Club.

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 Spelthorne is played in a range of facilities within the local authority. Clockhouse Park, Commercial Park, Fordbridge Park, Hanworth Air Park and Cedars Park are key site locations that are heavily used.

The key strengths of local football in Spelthorne include female provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, there are aspects of football provision that lower than local authorities of a similar size; these include adult, youth male and disability provision.

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

1. Adult Male
2. Youth Male
3. Recreation – Male and Female
4. Disability provision

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

Each priority project that progresses to a funding application via the Football Foundation will produce a detailed ‘site development plan’ specifying all football development activity, usage and key partner engagement.

This section reviews existing football facility assets in Spelthorne. It identifies current issues and presents opportunities for improvements, including a list of priority projects for potential investment. Local assets and opportunities have been reviewed in line with four investment priorities:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The two existing full-sized (11v11) 3G FTPs in Spelthorne are located at:

• Hazelwood Centre (London Irish Training Ground)
• Matthew Arnold Sports Centre

There are, in addition, three small-sided 3G FTP centres in Spelthorne:

• Matthew Arnold Sports Centre (one 50x40m)
• Meadhurst Sports Club (one 35x17m)
• HMP Bronzefield (one 31x18m)

The draft PPS indicates a shortfall of two full sized 3G FTPs in Spelthorne. This aligns with a shortfall requirement of two pitches based on the FA's training model (1:38 ratio) and 2018/19 FA affiliated total team numbers.

In addition to the shortfall of full sized 3G FTPs, the full sized 3G FTP at Matthew Arnold Sports Centre requires replacement. Both the full size and small sided 3G FTPs at Matthew Arnold Sports Centre were part funded by the Football Foundation. A sinking fund is in place to undertake this work in 2020.

Both the full sized 3G FTPs are available for community use. The small sided 3G FTP at Matthew Arnold Sports Centre also caters for community use, although it is currently being relocated as part of the school rebuild. The small sided 3G FTP at Meadhurst Sports Club offers limited community access.

The full size 3G FTP at Matthew Arnold Sports Centre is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning it is quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the pitch at Hazelwood Centre is assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is even; there is one full sized 3G FTP is in the east and one is in the west of the Authority. The key provision gap is in the centre of the Authority, despite the high level of population and substantial affiliated football. It is recommended that this is addressed.

Local consultation reveals common issues with limited availability for training and match play on 3G and it is recommended that these are addressed.

Two priority projects for potential investment are identified, including an either/or location for the Central Spelthorne 3G FTP.

Where known, sites are proposed based upon a rationale of good access, servicing a substantial local population, plugging provision gaps and catering for high levels of affiliated football.

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, many 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 Spelthorne with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 24 grass pitches. Of these nine sites, four are considered to have good quality pitches and five are of standard / poor quality.

Local consultation shows common issues with poor quality and it is recommended that this is addressed.

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

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by the draft PPS and ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was informed by local partners based upon a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition that are currently/potentially well-utilised and which reflect the strategic focus to improve football participation

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 Spelthorne with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance), six have suitable changing rooms and three require improvement/replacement. None are without changing provision.

In addition to the nine key sites identified above, the new Spelthorne Leisure Centre may also require changing facilities should a 3G FTP be developed at the site. In addition, whilst the changing facilities at The Thomas Kynvett College are of good quality, they are currently unavailable to the community in accordance with the terms and conditions of the planning agreement. For this reason, it is also considered that new changing facilities may be required at the College in light of the proposed 3G FTP at the site.

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified. This list includes the new facilities that potentially will be required as part of the 3G FTP developments at both the new Spelthorne Leisure Centre site, and The Thomas Kynvett College.

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

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

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

Informal players require facilities that are open and free to access as this enables play opportunities that are often spontaneous. In these circumstances multi-use games areas (MUGAs) can be effective in areas of high urban population and limited green space. Such facilities can be modern, bright, creative and engaging. While this plan will identify suitable locations for such facilities, the design and specifics of the facility type can be agreed at a later stage with Football Foundation staff when projects are ready to progress to pre-application stage.

Parks and open green spaces are also important to informal play and require goalposts and zones that are free from litter and dog fouling.

Local consultation indicates that no indoor facilities presently require improvement to develop small-sided football.

One potential opportunity for a MUGA has been identified. The rationale is based on the site being in an area of high population density with corresponding high local demand for informal football.

Following local consultation, and assisted by the Sport England green spaces mapping tool, one location has been identified to support small sided informal football. Here, the rationale is based on it being a popular open green space with suitable areas upon which to develop a facility to accommodate 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:

• Centre Manager - Matthew Arnold Sports Centre
• Staines Lammas and Laleham and Kempton FC - Secretary
• Ashford Town (Middx) FC - Chairman
• Active Lifestyle and Wellbeing Manager - Spelthorne Borough Council
• Planning Officer - Spelthorne Borough Council
• Thomas Kynvett College - Headteacher