Local Football Facility Plan West Berkshire

West Berkshire is in the South East Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 158,473. This is expected to rise to 169,406 by 2039.

West Berkshire is ranked 44 out of 67 LAs in the region, and 291 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (94.82%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of the population represented by the BAME community is 5.18%. This is below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The West Berkshire Council Core Strategy (adopted 2012) commits it to protecting and enhancing the District's green infrastructure. This is includes outdoor sports facilities and amenity green space for recreational activity.

The Authority is currently undertaking a PPS. The draft strategy was produced in March 2019 and this is expected to be signed off in the near future. Key findings include a significant shortfall of 3G FTPs, with the majority of grass pitches considered to be standard quality.

County football association

West Berkshire is covered by Berks & Bucks 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). There is no regularly active CCO in West Berkshire, although the Reading FC Community Trust does run some initiatives.

Local leisure operator

Legacy Lesiure is a key leisure operator in West Berkshire (contracted until 2022). The majority of other football provision is run by parish and town councils as well as schools.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in West Berkshire. 19 individuals (representing 19 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• West Berkshire Council
• Newbury Town Council
• Burghfield 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. West Berkshire has a total of 340 teams, which is higher than local areas of a similar size.

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

Over the last ten years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In West Berkshire, 12 clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Thatcham Tornadoes FC - 35 teams
• Burghfield FC - 29 teams
• Westwood Wanderers FC - 29 teams

Leagues

Five leagues cater for clubs and teams in West Berkshire. They offer competitive opportunity for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. While there is no specific league opportunity for disability football within the Authority, suitable provision is made in neighbouring Oxford. The largest local leagues (2018-19) include:

• Berkshire County Girls Football League – 122 teams– home and away
• Reading & West Berkshire League – 149 teams– home and away
• Thames Valley Premier League – 53 teams– home and away

The County FA reports that significant cross boundary migration to/from West Berkshire primarily due to teams playing in the Berkshire Youth Development League in Reading and Wokingham.

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 West Berkshire there are six 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. West Berkshire has three FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 43, West Berkshire’s number of female teams is higher than local areas of a similar size. The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league is the Berkshire County Girls' League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Thames Valley County Women's League in which matches are also played on a home and away basis. It too expects to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Reading FC. 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 Reading FC Women 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 – Park House School
• Hotshots – Park House 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 West Berkshire. It is a priority for the County FA to grow 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 West Berkshire. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Ever Active and Thatcham Tornadoes FC. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include casual booking which are managed by a range of organisations including Active 8.

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 West Berkshire is played particularly in the east and west of the local authority. Cotswold Sports Centre, Linnear Park and Victoria Park are key well-used site locations.

The key strengths of local football in West Berkshire include women's and girls' and mini provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist, in particular futsal. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for West Berkshire are:

1. Adult male recreational football
2. Adult male player retention
3. Futsal
4. Youth female football & Wildcats

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 West Berkshire. 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 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.

There is currently only one full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTP in West Berkshire, located at Park House School. It is available for community use but is not on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning it is not quality checked and cannot be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that it is assessed and placed on the Register although for this to happen, quality improvements may be necessary. It was not Football Foundation funded and it is not known whether a sinking fund is in place.

In addition, there is one small-sided 3G FTP at Elstree School (74m x 44m). It is not available for community use and is not floodlit. This is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future due to the private nature of the site.

The West Berkshire (draft) PPS indicates a shortfall of seven full size 3G FTPs; however, this is based on old affiliation data. Using latest figures, the shortfall is considered to be eight; calculated using the FA training ratio model (1:38).

Given the limited current supply, it is unsurprising that there are 3G FTP provision gaps throughout the Authority and the recommendations in this plan are designed to start to address this situation.

Local consultation confirms common issues with low availability, long travel times to play and train on 3G. Many key clubs currently train on sand-based or grass pitches and are spread across numerous venues. Others train in neighbouring authorities.

Ten priority projects for potential investment are identified. Eight are for new full size 3G FTPs to be provided (to eradicate the identified shortfall), whilst one is for a small-sided 3G FTP and the remaining proposal is to resurface the FTP at Park House School.

For the new full sized 3G FTPs, three are site-specific recommendations (Denefield School, John O'Gaunt School and Kennet School), whilst the remaining five note the areas of the Authority in which they are needed rather than exact locations. Further work is required to identify a preferred site for each of these projects; some of which have multiple possible options.

For the Newbury Area project, development may be depended on the future of Faraday Road, as a stadia 3G pitch could be incorporated as part of a relocation, or potentially investigated on the existing site if provision is retained.

For investment to go ahead in relation to 3G FTPs, it is imperative that the providers agree to the terms and conditions set out by the Football Foundation as well as ensuring that provision achieves key outcomes. This includes agreeing to the creation of a sinking fund for long-term sustainability.

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 24 grass pitch sites in West Berkshire with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 98 grass pitches. Of these, four are considered to have good quality pitches, 12 are of standard quality and eight are of poor quality.

Local consultation confirms common issues with quality, low availability and overuse and the need to address this. Numerous large clubs have to play matches across several sites and many aspire to acquire or manage their own sites on a long-term lease or licence agreement basis in order to have a "home". Thatcham Tornadoes, Burghfield and Cold Ash Boys & Girls football clubs are examples.

Of the 24 key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that 11 should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to 44 pitches. Pitch assessments have not being carried out at the sites but there are plans to in the near future - these should be used as a guide to inform the investment required.

In addition, new pitches are already planned at Goosecroft Recreation Ground, without funding via the Football Foundation. As such, this project is not included within this plan.

11 priority projects for investment are identified. The underpinning pitch quality rating was evidenced by the PPS and ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition, that have the most pitches and that are, or have the potential to be, best utilised.

It should be noted that quality at Stockcross Recreation Ground, Henwick Worthy Sports Ground and Douai Park Playing Fields is already considered to be adequate; however, the key nature of these sites as well as usage levels suggest that they should not be overlooked. It is likely that only maintenance improvements will be necessary, rather than specific pitch enhancements.

The proposed project at Padworth Village Hall is not for grass pitch improvements but rather for the creation of new pitches. The site currently hosts one adult pitch but has space for more to be established. This will help Reading YMCA FC grow, as well as allowing for usage from other clubs in the area.

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 24 key grass pitch sites in West Berkshire with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), 19 have suitable changing rooms (or are without changing rooms but are not considered in need), whilst five require improvement/replacement.

In addition, there is as an aspiration for changing room improvements at Brimpton Recreation Ground, although this is not considered to be a key site as it contains only one pitch and has only two club users. A small grant could enable this, exclusive of this plan.

Five priority projects are identified. Whilst all five relate to improving existing facilities, it must be noted that preference is for social and catering facilities to be given priority ahead of changing rooms at sites such as Speen Recreation Ground and Stockcross Recreation Ground. Due to the types of demand hosted - access to changing rooms can be minimal.

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. Demand is relatively minimal and can be catered for at existing facilities (i.e. school sports halls) or with more urban neighbouring authorities (i.e. Reading).

Five potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. In each case the rationale is based on the site being in an area of significant population with corresponding high local demand for informal football. Four entail the refurbishment of existing, well used MUGAs to improve quality and potentially make the venue more suitable for football activity, whilst the remaining project focuses on an area considered to be in need of provision (Lambourn).

Following local consultation, no locations are identified to support small sided informal football, with the option to improve and/or install MUGAs preferred.

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:

• Sport & Leisure Manager - West Berkshire Council
• Secretary - AFC Newbury
• Vice Chairman - Burghfield FC
• Secretary - Cold Ash Boys & Girls FC
• Chairman - Hungerford Town FC
• Coach - Hungerford Town Juniors FC
• Chairman - Newbury FC
• Chairman - Thatcham Tornadoes FC
• Secretary - Westwood Wanderers FC
• Clerk - Newbury Town Council
• Clerk - Thatcham Town Council
• Clerk - Burghfield Parish Council
• Clerk - Tilehurst Parish Council
• Communities Officer - Sovereign Housing
• West Berkshire Mencap
• Riverside Community Centre
• Moorside Community Centre
• Headteacher - Kennet School
• Chief Executive Officer - Get Berkshire Active