Local Football Facility Plan Torbay

Torbay is in the South West Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 135,247. This is expected to rise to 146,323 by 2034

Torbay is ranked 1st out of 37 LAs in the region, and 44 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Torbay's ethnic composition is primarily white (97.5%). This is significantly higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Torbay’s population represented by the BAME community is 2.5%. This is significantly below to the national average (14.6%).

Local Authority

Torbay Neighbourhood Plan comprises of three separate plans to reflect the three key areas of population, which are; Torquay, Paignton and the Brixham Peninsula. Each respective Neighbourhood Plan helps local communities play a direct role in planning the area in which they live and work. The key priorities for sport and leisure per area are as follows:

• Torquay: The priority in Torbay is to provide long term leases to Clubs at nominal rent so that they are in a position to improve those facilities by grant application and long term investment.
• Brixham Peninsula: The objective in the Brixham Peninsula is to increase the quality and quantity of formal outdoor sports provision. The Authority acknowledges there is a current shortfall and it will work with communities and future housing developers to address this.
• Paignton: The Plan aims to protect and enhance current sport and recreational sites, including Clennon Valley and White Rock Recreation Ground.

County Football Association

Torbay is covered by the Devon 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). Torquay United Community Sports Trust delivers a range of programmes in the locality focusing on increasing participation, social inclusion and health.

Local leisure operator

Parkwood Leisure manages the main leisure facility in the Authority; Torbay Leisure Centre.

Local consultation

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

• Torbay Council
• Torquay United Community Trust
• A range of clubs- see appendix for full a list

(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. Torbay has a total of 100 teams, which is comparable to local areas of a similar size.

The FA is investing to support clubs both on and off the pitch which includes an aim to have a qualified FA coach with every youth team by 2020/21. In addition, it will support 1,000 clubs to create full player pathways from youth to adult teams and develop 150 community football hubs with male and female pathways, disability and recreational playing opportunities.

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Torbay, three clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These are (based upon 2017-18 data):

• Watcombe Wanderers - 15 teams
• Brixham Athletic - 14 teams
• Torquay Academy- 13 teams

Leagues

Eight leagues serve clubs and teams in Torbay. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, disability, youth and adults. The largest of these leagues (2018-19) include:

• The Pioneer Youth League – 167 teams – home and away
• South Devon Football League – 73 teams – home and away
• Devon Girls Football League - 35 teams – home and away

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to/from Torbay primarily due to local teams competing in regional 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 Torbay there are 10 football teams / sessions 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. Torbay has 10 FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain this activity.

At four, Torbay’s number of female teams is lower that 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 Devon County Girls League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Devon Women’s League. It too plays matches on a home and away basis and is expected to grow provision in future years.

There is no FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) in Devon, however, the Devon FA Girls Advanced Coaching Centre is located in the Authority. 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 Bristol City 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

• Powerplay - Torquay Grammar School
• Soccer Sixes - South Devon College
• Soccer Sixes - Torbay Leisure Centre

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 25 futsal teams in Torbay. They play in the Sport Fitness 4U League at key site locations including Paignton Academy. It is a priority for the County FA to sustain futsal for male 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 are currently 10 FA Just Play centres in Torbay. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Torquay United Community Sports Trust. Walking football and Just Play are areas that the County FA has prioritised to be sustained. Other local recreational football programmes include weight loss football clubs and pro-club community scheme activity which are delivered by Torquay United Community Sports Trust.

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 Torbay is played at key sites, including Barton Downs Playing fields and Quinta Road Playing Fields

The key strengths of local football in Torbay include Just Play and futsal provision. It is recommended that this is sustained and encouraged to grow further. However, there are aspects of football that are less well developed than they are in local authorities of a similar size, these include youth male and female. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Torbay are:

1. Youth football (male and female)
2. Weight-loss/health clubs, walking football & other casual participation
3. Adult female football
4. Adult male football
5. Disability football

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 Torbay. 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 is reviewed applying a standard approach, supplemented by input from consultation with local partners and stakeholder organisations.

While investment priorities are 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) community availble 3G FTPs in Torbay are located at:

• Paignton Academy
• Torquay Academy
• South Devon College

Torbay does not have a current PPS and, therefore, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38.

On the basis that there are 100 teams there is a requirement for three full sized 3G FTPs. As noted, there are already three 3G FTPs in Torbay. This means that no additional 3G FTP facilities are currently required.

All 3G FTPs are available for community use and on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It must be noted that Paignton Academy 3G FTP is approaching the end of its lifespan and will need to be upgraded in the short term. This is, however, not identified as a priority project as the School is expected to replace the surface as part of the terms and conditions of the original Foundation grant.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is even; the key areas of population (Torquay and Paignton) are both served.

Local consultation reveals no common issues. The majority of clubs consulted report being able to access 3G facilities to accommodate both training and match play demand.

No priority projects for potential investment are identified at this point in time due to there being no current 3G FTP shortfall. Future iterations of the LFFP should review this position accordingly.

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 eight grass pitch sites in Torbay with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 15 grass pitches. Of these, four are considered to have good quality pitches and four are of poor quality.

Local club consultation confirms the poor pitch quality at a number of sites and it is recommended that these sites receive investment.

Of the eight sites referenced, it was determined that three should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to five pitches. Clennon Valley site is not, at present, cllassed as a priority project.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by recent pitch improvement reports and local club consultation.

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 eight key grass pitch sites in Torbay with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), four sites have suitable changing rooms and three sites require improvement/replacement. Clennon Valley is not considered to be a current priority project.

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

Local consultation has led to four potential opportunities for MUGAs being identified. In each case, the rationale is to service areas which presently offer only limited recreational football opportunity. Investment in these would also enhance the outreach work being undertaken by a number of organisations including the Acorn Centre and Torquay United's Community Sports Trust.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no parks and open green spaces are being proposed for improvement to develop small sided 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:

• Torbay Council- Sports Development Officer
• Torbay Council- Parks Manager
• Torquay United Community Sports Trust- Foundation Manager
• Brixham Youth FC- Club Chairman
• Paignton Villa Youth- Club Chairman
• Acron Centre- Club Chairman
• Galmpton United- Club Chairman
• Sport Torbay- Secreatry