Local Football Facility Plan Thanet

Thanet is in the South East Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2018 Mid-Year Estimate) is 141, 337. This is expected to rise to 168,379 by 2039.

Thanet is ranked two out of 67 LAs in the region, and 35 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (96%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

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

Local authority

The Thanet Sports & Active Recreation Strategy (2015-2019) outlines a vision for the District, to 'build active, healthy, safe and successful communities in Thanet through increased participation in sport and active recreation.' One of four complementary themes/priorities identified through the consultation was 'Enhancing Sports Facility Provision'. Some key actions identified in achieving better facilities relating to football were:

• Implement a playing pitch audit to review current grass pitch usage.
• Redevelop Jackey Bakers Recreation Ground creating a ‘sporting hub’ to tie in with nearby facilities
• Support voluntary sports clubs in undertaking their own facility/grounds management and support clubs with the application of capital funding applications.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was undertaken in 2018. The key findings and stated overarching priorities are to increase the capacity of grass pitches through qualitative improvement to cater for shortfalls, specifically for junior football and to increase supply of full size 3G FTPs. Jackey Bakers Recreation Ground was identified as a key site for future development as a football hub for Thanet.

County football association

Thanet is covered by 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). Charton Athletic FC Community Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities in the local area.

Local leisure operator

Your Leisure is the key operator in Thanet. It currently runs both Ramsgate Leisure Centre and Hartsdown Sports & Leisure Centre.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a range of community groups in Thanet. Ten individuals (representing nine local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Thanet District Council
• Charlton Athletic FC Community Trust
• Margate Youth 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. Thanet has a total of 201 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 ten years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Thanet, five clubs have more than ten registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Thanet Colts - 29 teams
• Margate Youth - 25 teams
• Ramsgate FC - 25 teams
• Monkton - 11 teams
• Total Sports Coaching - 10 teams

Leagues

Three main leagues cater for clubs and teams in Thanet. They offer competitive opportunities for adults. While there are no specific league opportunities for disability, youth or women & girls, suitable provision is made in neighbouring areas. The key local leagues (2018-19) include:

• Kent FA Flexi League – 8 Thanet based teams (central venue)
• Thanet & District Football League– 12 Thanet based teams (home and away)
• Thanet Sunday Football League – 27 Thanet based teams (home and away)

The County FA reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Thanet due to teams playing in the:

• Canterbury and District Football League.
• East Kent Youth League
• Faversham & District Youth Football League
• Herne Bay and Whitstable Sunday League
• Isthmian Football League
• Kent County Football League
• Kent Girls/Ladies Football League
• Kent Youth League
• Medway Messenger Youth League
• National League U19 Alliance
• South East Counties Womens League
• Tactic 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 Thanet there are four 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. Thanet has three FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain this activity.

At 13, Thanet's 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 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 leagues are the Kent Girls & Ladies Football League and South East Counties Women's League both of which play matches on a home and away. They are also expected to grow 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.

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. Leisure Leagues at Margate FC is the key local provider of small sided football in Thanet.

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 affiliated futsal teams in Thanet. It is a priority for the County FA to develop and 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 two FA Just Play centres in Thanet. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisations including Margate FC, Herne Bay FC, Ramsgate Sports Centre, Baypoint Sports Club and Ramsgate Sticky Wicket. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include the Kent FA Flexi Football League and Total Sports Coaching

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 Thanet include youth and mini soccer and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, provision gaps include adult male 11v11 teams, futsal and informal football sessions. It is, thus, recommended that future football development priorities for Thanet are to:

1. Support the transition of youth teams and players into adult male 11v11 league play.
2. Grow informal football provision.
3. Ensure that 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. Grow women and girls provision via work with existing clubs, informal ladies sessions and the FA Wildcats programme.

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 Thanet. 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, local areas are 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 full sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Thanet are located at:

• Hartsdown Academy
• Margate FC

In addition, two further sites contain a total of nine small-sided 3G FTPs. These are:

• King George V Park (one 9v9 - for which there are plans in place to resurface)
• Margate FC (eight 5v5)

The Thanet PPS was delivered in 2018. It indicates a shortfall of two full sized 3G FTPs. Consultation indicates that this is still the case.

Both the existing full sized facilities pitches are available for community use and Margate FC is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that it has been quality checked and can be used for football match play). The small sided pitch at King George V Park is also FA Registered for mini soccer. It is strongly recommended that Hartsdown Academy is assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The spread of facilities is uneven; the majority are located in the north (Margate town) of the area. There are gaps in the south, east and west, despite considerable settlements and high levels of deprivation in the east which need to be addressed.

The Dover LFFP proposes development of a new full sized 3G FTP at Baypoint Leisure Centre, situated in the north of Dover District. This is close to the border with south Thanet. Margate Youth FC, based in Thanet, has 25 teams and is already the main user of this site. The consensus if that demand from this club will be met via this project.

Margate FC (adult male at Step 3) has highlighted a long-term ambition to install a 9v9 3G FTP to the south west of the existing small sided FTPS. The area is currently unprepared land. The Club is also looking to further enhance its site though, and the CFA have highlighted the potential to improve the existing small sided 3G (5v5) pitches at the site.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified based upon the need to service community football. Due to the significant potential of the Jackey Bakers site, a full feasibility study should be carried out to determine the optimal facility mix and potential management options to meet the needs of grassroots football and the wider community.

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 12 grass pitch sites in Thanet with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 46 grass pitches. Of these, 11 are considered to contain standard quality pitches and one (Jackey Bakers Sports Ground in Ramsgate) has pitches rated as being of poor quality.

As noted above, the Dover LFFP proposes development of a new full sized 3G FTP and improvement of grass pitches at Baypoint Leisure Centre, situated in the north of Dover District in close proximity to the border with south Thanet. Margate Youth FC, based in Thanet, has 25 teams and is already the main user of this site. It is considered that demand from this club will be met through this project.

Of the 12 key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that, at this stage, two should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to 14 pitches:

Two priority projects for potential investment are 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 and that had the most pitches and the potential to be well-utilised.

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 12 key grass pitch sites in Thanet with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) eight have suitable changing rooms and two sites require improvement. Two; Hartsdown Park and Ursuline College Playing Fields, do not having onsite changing facilities but, these are, reportedly, not required at these sites.

In addition to the 12 key sites identified above, there are plans to refurbish the changing facilities at King George V Park (Minster) without seeking Football Foundation funding support.

Further to its aspirations for onsite 3G FTP provision, Ramsgate FC also indicates wishing to improve its changing provision. It is engaging with the Football Stadia Improvement Fund to help deliver this project.

Two 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.

Five potential opportunities to improve/upgrade existing MUGAs are identified. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in an area of considerable urban population, with corresponding high local demand for informal football. These are:

• St Peter’s Rec, Broadstairs - existing MUGA onsite near to The Pavilion Youth and Community Café Project.
• Boundary Park, Ramsgate - existing MUGA located within park site.
• Princess Margaret Ave, Ramsgate – existing MUGA located close to Newington Community Association.
• Lymington Road, Westgate – existing MUGA located along with play park and skate park.
• Dane Park, Margate – MUGA located within park.

Further prioritisation is required in order to determine the order in which these should be taken forward based upon development of a more specific rationale for each.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no indoor facilities require improvement to develop parks and open green spaces.

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:

• Engagement Manager – Football Foundation
• Football Development Manager – Kent FA
• Planning Manager - Sport England
• Community Development Officer – Thanet District Council
• Activities Communities Coordinator - Thanet District Council
• Fundraising & Partnerships Manager - Kent Sport
• Head of Community – Charlton Athletic FC Community Trust
• Margate Youth FC
• Margate FC
• Ramsgate FC
• Bay City Rollers FC