Local Football Facility Plan St. Helens

St. Helens is located in the North West region . The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 179,331. This is expected to rise to 186,899 by 2039.

St Helens' ethnic composition is primarily White (98.04%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of St Helens’ population represented by the BAME community is 1.96%. This is significantly below the national average (14.6%).

At 32%, the level of inactivity in St. Helens is above both the regional (27 %) and national (26%) average.

Local Authority

St Helen’s Core Strategy (2012) provides a strategic plan for how the Authority will develop until 2027. A key objective of this is to improve the health and wellbeing of all communities and residents. To achieve this, the Authority is committed to ensuring that its communities have access to good quality leisure facilities and high quality public open spaces. .

St Helen’s latest Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2016) sets out the aim to improve and protect the health and wellbeing of those who live and work in St. Helens. The stated vision is to invest in residents' wellbeing, reduce ill health and create a healthy St. Helens. This vision is supported by five strategic priorities:

• Improve outcomes for children and young people
• Reduce premature mortality
• Support independence
• Improve mental health and emotional resilience
• Focus on the wider determinants of health through effective deployment of resources, partnership and community working

St. Helens People’s Plan 2017 - 2020 unites the statutory role of the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Community Safety Partnership and is led by the St. Helens People’s Board. The objective is to improve public health and social care as well as ensuring good standards of community safety and reducing the number of people at risk of substance abuse and self-harm. To achieve this objective, its three main aims are linked to the three stages in life:

• Starting well, putting children first, promoting healthy social and physical development.
• Living well, maintaining a healthy weight, good exercise and improving mental health.
• Ageing well, improving lifestyles, maintaining fitness and tacking loneliness and dementia.

St. Helens Council Plan (2017-2020) aims to place St. Helens at the heart of the North West, strengthening its prospects for economic growth, overcoming a variety of socio-economic challenges and improving the perceived quality of St. Helens as a place to live, work and invest. To achieve this, one of the themes is to improve people's lives by providing better health and well-being opportunities for people and supporting communities to accomplish their aspirations.

The Authority's Playing Pitch Strategy was produced in 2016 . It recorded a total of 134 football pitches in St. Helens, of which, 127 are available, at some level, for community use. Most football pitches available for community use were assessed as being of poor (56%) or standard (37%) quality. Just 7% were assessed as good. The assessment was undertaken independently. There is a shortfall of provision to cater for current and future demand for youth football (both 9v9 and 11v11 formats), whilst further increases in demand would cause an additional shortfall at the mini 5v5 level.

The PPS noted that there were two (11v11) full-sized 3G FTPs in St.Helens and a shortfall of a further five. Since it was written, two additional full-sized 3G FTPs have been built. The calculations applied in the 2016 PPS were also undertaken using the previous version of the FA demand model (which was based on a 1:60 ratio of teams to pitches) and not current FA demand modelling (at 1:38) which is the basis for this report.

The Authority manages five key leisure facilities. These are Queens Park Health and Fitness Centre, Ruskin Drive Sports Ground, Parr Fitness and Swimming Centre, Selywn Jones Sports Centre and Sutton Leisure Centre. The sand-dressed pitches at Sutton Leisure Centre and Selwyn Jones Sports Centre are used by local football teams, however, neither is suitable to accommodate football match play .

County football association

St Helens is covered by both Lancashire and Liverpool County FAs. Both CFAs provide governance and development support to all aspects of local football including coaches, referees, volunteers, clubs and leagues; supporting football for all. Both County FAs have designated facilities investment lead officers who work to ensure the right facilities are available 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 club community organisations (CCOs)

These continue to expand and enhance their range of community delivery, offering a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). There is no active CCO in St Helens .

Local leisure operator

There is no external leisure operator for community football facilities in St Helens. All facilities are managed by St Helens Council.There are three Parish Councils and one Trust that manage strategic grass pitch sites across the Local Authority. These are; Rainhill Parish Council, Eccleston Parish Council, Seneley Green Parish Council and the Eddleston Trust.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in St Helens. 17 individuals (representing 10 local organisations) were consulted. These include:

• St Helens Council
• Rainhill Parish Council
• Eccleston Parish Council
• A range of affiliated clubs

(See Appendix B for full list of consultees)

Clubs

There are over 91,000 community football teams in England, spread over an expansive network of clubs and leagues. St Helens has a total of 344 teams; this is a higher number than local areas of a similar size.

The FA is investing to support clubs both on and off the pitch; this includes its 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 play opportunity.

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In St Helens, 13 clubs have more than ten registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2017-18 affiliation data) are:

• Newton Le Willows – 27 teams
• Rainhill United – 26 teams
• Rainford Rangers – 23 teams
• Earlstown Athletic- 21 teams
• Penlake – 21 teams
• Seneley & Garswood – 20 teams
• Bleak Hill Rovers – 18 teams
• Billinge Juniors- 15 teams
• Haydock – 16 teams
• Parkdale Sidac – 15 teams

Leagues

As of 2017-18, the one main local league in St Helens is the St Helens junior & Rainhill Junior League which offers competitive opportunities for mini soccer and youth male players. It caters for 119 teams playing at home and away venues.

Both County FAs (Liverpool and Lancashire) report some cross boundary migration in and out of the Authority due to teams migrating outwards to play in a number of leagues. The biggest one is the Warrington Junior League. In addition, there are also a number of other leagues; Warrington District League, High Town Junior Football League (Liverpool), Mossley Hill Junior football league (Liverpool), Wigan and District Amateur League, Cheshire Adult League and South Lancashire Counties League (Wigan).

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 inclusivity could entail inclusion in mainstream activity or teams or taking part in sessions specifically for people with a disability.

For talented players the FA runs regional centres and England national squads.

In St. Helens there are two football teams / sessions run specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to grow this provision. St. Helens based disability teams migrate to play in Liverpool central venue leagues

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. St Helens has 4 FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain and grow this activity.

At 14, St Helens number of female teams is similar 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 leagues are the LCFA Girls and Hightown Girls Leagues and matches are played on a central venue basis (in Liverpool and Sefton). It is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the LCFA Womens League in which matches are played on a home and away across Merseyside; io too is expected to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA regional talent clubs (RTC) are Everton Ladies and Liverpool Women located in Childwall (Everton) and Walton (Liverpool) respectively. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads. The two local Women’s Super League teams is Everton and Liverpool Ladies 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 & 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:

• Ruskin Drive Sports Complex
• Rainhill High School
• Cowley High School

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced, small sided team game that is widely played across the world. Typically it is played on an indoor surface with hockey-sized goals and a size 4 football with reduced ball bounce. It is the FA’s aim to ensure that Futsal is available across the country.

There are currently no futsal teams in St Helens. It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal for male, female, youth and adult 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 is currently one FA Just Play Centre in St Helens. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation including St Helens Sports Development. Walking football and Just Play are areas in which the County FA is targeting further growth and development.

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

Currently, informal football in St Helens is played all over the Borough. Ruskin Sports Village and Sutton Leisure Centre are key site locations that are heavily used.

The key strengths of local football in St Helens include adult male, youth male and mini soccer provision and it is recommend that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist , these include adult female, youth female and disability provision

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

• Adult female
• Youth female
• Disability football
• Adult male
• Futsal

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 St.Helens. 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 inline with four investment priorities:

1. 3G FTPs
2. Improved grass pitches
3. Changing room pavilions / clubhouses
4. 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 for 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 national ‘Mini Pitch’ programme delivers small 3G FTPs at primary school sites to provide a high quality introduction to football and get children more physically active. While mini pitches are reviewed in this section, they are not included in the demand and supply analysis for 3G FTPs.

FA data states that there are currently four 3G FTPs in St Helens; this is a shortfall of six pitches relative to assessed demand, representing a total demand for ten full size pitches. The shortfall was calculated using the current FA demand model based on a ratio of 1: 38 teams per full size 3G pitch. This differs from the PPS, which uses the ratio of 1: 60, stating there is a need for seven full size pitches.

Existing full-sized (11v11) 3G FTPs in St Helens are located at:

• Ruskin Drive Sports Village x 2
• Rainhill High School Media Arts College
• Cowley International College

The following sites offer small sided provision:

• Carmel College (60x40)
• Haydock King George V Playing Field (5V5)

All four full-sized 3G FTPs listed are available for community use. Both pitches at Ruskin Drive Sports Village 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 two remaining pitches are quality checked and brought onto the register to enable more match play on 3G. The Local Authority and the Football Foundation are progressing with an application for a full size 3G FTP at Sutton Leisure Centre. It is hoped that an application to the Foundation will be submitted in Spring 2019, with an outcome soon after. This will be in addition to the current sand dressed facility at the site.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven with the majority located in the west of the Authority. There are provision gaps in the north and east areas despite high levels of population, high levels of deprivation in this area and large number of affiliated teams. It is recommended that these issues are addressed by developing new provision.

Local consultation reveals common issues with low availability and long travel distances and it is recommended that these are addressed. For example, certain teams have to travel outside the Authority to accommodate both match play and training demand.

Five projects have been identified for potential investment.

Of the five, two site options for one project have been listed - a generic 'East St Helen's 3G FTP' (Selwyn Jones Sports Centre/ Haydock King Georges Playing Field) , from which one preferred site should be chosen. A generic 'North St Helen's' 3G opportunity has also been identified. Determination of a preferred location in the north will need to be the subject of further feasibility work. Please note the latter is not listed on the map as the specific site is yet to be identified.

In addition, rugby is a popular sport in the Authority and any project should consider both codes of rugby. Consultation should be undertaken with the Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union as part of any future feasibility work for 3G FTPs in St. Helens.

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 standard and 1 in 6 games are 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.

In many local areas the key challenge is to create a sustainable approach to provide good quality football pitches for the long-term. Many 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.

Pitch finder indicates that there are currently 21 grass pitch sites in St. Helens with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance) containing 72 grass pitches.

Of these, 11 are considered to have good quality pitches and 10 have poor quality pitches.

Local consultation states that there has been some significant investment in grass pitches, however, certain sites still suffer from poor drainage which need to be addressed.

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 21 key sites with three or more full-size pitch equivalents in St Helens, nine have suitable changing room pavilions/clubhouses, 10 have facilities that need improvement/ replacement and two have no facilities and require a new changing pavilion.

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 & leagues, and in recreational sessions, prefer a 3G surface type because it replicates a good standard natural turf pitch. These facilities are already 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, 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 spontaneous play opportunity. 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.

Following local consultation, the steering group did not identify any sites for investment.

Two potential opportunities for MUGA’s have been identified. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in an area of high urban population with high levels of deprivation and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

Sport England recreational football mapping suggests that in St.Helens , settlements such as those in the vicinity of St.Helens town centre, Thatto Heath and Newton Le Willows may have a particularly high demand for informal football from the local population.

Following local consultation, the steering group did not identify any sites for investment.

Sport and Leisure Manager: St Helens Council

Public Health: St Helens Council

Asset Management: St Helens Council

Countryside Manager:: St Helens Council

Educational Manager: St Helens Council

Planning manager: St Helens Council

School Games Organiser: St Helens Council

Town Clerk: Rainhill Parish Council:

Town Clerk: Seneley Green Parish Council:

Town Clerk: Eccleston Parish Council

Club Chairman: Billinge Juniors

Club Chairman: Blackbrook Juniors FC

Club chairman: Haydock FC

Club Chairman: Parkdale Sidac FC

Club Chairman: Bold Rangers

Club Chairman: Penlake Juniors

Club Chairman: Earlstown FC