Local Football Facility Plan Waltham Forest

Waltham Forest is a London borough.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2018 Mid-Year Estimate) is 276,700. This is expected to rise to 314,420 by 2039.

Waltham Forest is ranked 10 out of 33 LAs in the region, and 46 out of 317 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (52%). This is significantly lower to the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of the Waltham Forest population represented by the BAME community is 48%. This is substantially above the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The London Borough of Waltham Forest Council Corporate Strategy: Creating Futures has three key priorities - to:

• Keep Waltham Forest clean and safe
• Work to ensure everyone has a decent roof over their head
• Improve residents’ life chances.

To improve residents life chances, the Council is committed to working with residents and businesses to provide better quality leisure facilities, including the development of Ive Farm - Feel Good Too complex.

The Authority has a recently completed playing pitch strategy although this has yet to be adopted. The key findings suggest that there is a supply/demand balance in respect of 3G FTPs, however, team generation rates indicate that there will be a need for one new facility over the time period to 2033.

County football association

Waltham Forest is covered by both the London and the Essex county FAs. These 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 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 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). The Leyton Orient Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

GLL is the key leisure operator in Waltham Forest. It currently runs a number of key sites including Walthamstow Stadium and Chingford Leisure Centre.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a range of community groups in Waltham Forest. Nine individuals (representing nine local organisations) were consulted. These include:

• London Borough of Waltham Forest
• Leyton Orient FC Trust
• A number of local football 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. Waltham Forest has a total of 222 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 Waltham Forest, five clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These are (based upon 2019/20 affiliation data) :

• L.OA.S.S Youth / Vets
• Old Parmiterians FC / Vets
• Ridgeway Rovers FC / Youth
• Ryan Youth
• West Essex Colts

Eight leagues operate in Waltham Forest. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, disability, youth and adults. They are the:

• Echo Junior Football League
• Essex Alliance Football League
• Essex Sunday Corinthian Football League
• East London and Essex Junior Football League
• Essex Soccability League
• Essex County Girls League,
• Essex County Women's League,
• Greene King Veterans 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 Waltham Forest there are four 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. Waltham Forest has one FA Wildcats girls football centre and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 15, Waltham Forest’s number of female teams is considered to be low compared 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 Essex 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 Essex County Women's Football League. It too plays matches on a home and away and it is expected to sustain its provision in future years.

For talented players, there are a number of local FA regional talent clubs (RTCs). These include West Ham United RTC, Millwall RTC, Arsenal RTC and Charlton RTC. 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 West Ham United 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 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:

• Score Centre- Leyton
• Goals Chingford

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 15 affiliated futsal teams in Waltham Forest; the majority of matches are played at the Score Centre in Leyton. It also hosts the London Futsal League. It is a priority for the County FA to continue 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 four FA Just Play centres in Waltham Forest. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Leyton Orient Trust. Walking football and Just Play are priorities for both county FAs for further growth and development.

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 Waltham Forest in played across a range of venues. These include the Paradox Community Centre and the Priory Court Community Centre.

The key strengths of local football in Waltham Forest include youth male, male open adult age and futsal and it is recommend that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps do exist, these include disability football and womens and girls opportunity. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Waltham Forest are to:

• Increase the level of disability football opportunity.
• Increase the quantity of girls football provision, including the number of Wildcats centres.
• Continue to grow futsal.
• Sustain youth male and adult male football.

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

Projects that progress 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 Waltham Forest. 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. 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 FTP 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.

FA data states that there are currently six full sized 3G FTPs in Waltham Forest. These are located at:

• Blades and Salisbury Hall Playing Fields (1)
• Drapers Sports Ground (1)
• Peter May Sports Centre (1)
• Douglas Eyre (1)
• Matchday Centre (1)
• Feel Good Too (1).

In addition, there are currently four small-sided 3G FTP centres located at:

• Leytonstone Community Sports Centre (one 5v5 )
• Leyton Sixth Form (one 5v5)
• Goals Centre Chingford (eight 5v5 and one 7v7)
• Matchday Centre (six 5v5)
• The Score Centre - Futsal

All six full sized venues are available for community use and two (Douglas Eyre and the Matchday Centre) and are on the FA Register (meaning that they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that other four are assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

It should also be noted that a hub site at Wanstead Flats is currently being progressed. The proposal is to install three full sized 3G FTPs along with a new changing facility. A feasibility study is currently being undertaken, and it is anticipated that this venue could be up and running by 2021/22. The site straddles two other authorities, Newham and Redbridge. Further details with regard to this project are listed in the Redbridge LFFP.

As noted above, the Waltham Forest PPS was undertaken in 2019. It indicates that the current demand is currently met but future team generation rates running up to 2033 suggest that there will be a need for one additional 3G FTP.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is even; with sites strategically placed to serve the Authority's population either by public transport or through walking. Local consultation suggests that certain clubs would like to develop their own facilities to serve their needs, however, due to the nature of provision in London boroughs, it was agreed that future investment should be prioritised on hub sites which can support a variety of clubs.

The steering group identified two priority projects for potential investment to meet the shortfall of 1 pitch. It felt that additional 3G FTP provision was part of a longer term view to address future football demand up to 2033 and further feasibility work would need to be undertaken to confirm demand and potential users. This work would also need to take into account the proposal to develop 3 x 3G FTPs at Wanstead Flats.

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. The majority of local authorities (78%) intend to increase pitch hire fees in the future. However, a substantial proportion 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 seven strategic grass pitch sites in Waltham Forest with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 38 grass pitches. Of these, one was considered to have good quality pitches while pitches at the other six are either of standard or poor quality.

On this basis, it was determined that six should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to 32 pitches:

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by the latest PPS and ratified by LFFP consultation. Prioritisation was based those pitches which needed to be improved and where it could be matched by high usage and club demand.

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 seven key grass pitch sites in Waltham Forest with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) five have suitable changing rooms and two require improvement/replacement.

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. It must be noted, however, that the Hub in Leyton is a key site for futsal. It is currently being upgraded and does not, at present, require any funding from the Football Foundation.

Three potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in an area of significant urban population with limited green space and corresponding high local demand for informal football. The Leyton Orient Foundation currently delivers programmes at these sites, and potential upgrades will enhance the Trust's programme offer.

Local consultation reveals there are no parks and open spaces that require improvement to develop small-sided football.

• Waltham Forest Council
• Leyton Orient Trust
• LOASS- Leyton Orient Advanced Soccer School
• Ridgeway Rovers
• Old Parmiterians FC
• Leyton Girls
• West Essex Colts
• London Playing Fields Assocation
• Ryan FC