Local Football Facility Plan Winchester

Winchester is in the South Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2018 Mid-Year Estimate) is 124,295. This is expected to rise to 138,430 by 2039.

Winchester is ranked 52 out of 67 LAs in the region, and 293 out of 317 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 Winchester’s population represented by the BAME community is 4%. This is below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The Winchester City Council Plan (2020-2025) vision is to tackle the climate emergency and create a greener, healthier authority. To achieve this, the Council wants all residents to live healthy and fulfilled lives supported by the right mix of leisure facilities for all ages and abilities. This will include delivery of a new leisure facility for the Authority; Winchester Sport and Leisure Park; which is scheduled to open in Spring 2021.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was adopted in 2018. At the time of writing, the key findings included a shortfall of three full sized 3G FTPs and a current under supply across all grass pitch types apart from adult 11v11 pitches.

County football association

Winchester is covered by Hampshire 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 active CCO in Winchester.

Local leisure operator

Places Leisure is the current key leisure operator in Winchester. It currently operates the only facility in the Authority; River Park Leisure Centre which has a 7v7 3G FTP. As noted above, this venue is due to be replaced by the new Winchester Sport & Leisure Park in 2021 and will be managed by Everyone Active. However, current 3G provision at River Park will remain - and be managed by the Local Authority.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Winchester. 11 individuals (representing 11 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Winchester City Council
• Several football Clubs- see appendix
• Kings School
• Perins School

(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. Winchester has a total of 301 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 Winchester, ten clubs have more than ten registered teams. These are as follows along with the number of teams per club:

• Alresford Town Youth- 19
• Bishops Waltham Dynamos Sports- 15
• Colden Common- 15
• Littleton Juniors- 30
• South Wonston Swifts Youth- 10
• Waltham Wolves Youth- 19
• Whiteley Wanderers Youth- 31
• Winchester Youth- 26
• Winchester City Flyers- 22
• Worthys Youth- 25

Leagues

Four leagues cater for clubs and teams in Winchester offering competitive opportunities for youth and adult males. These are:

• Eastleigh and District Mini Soccer League (central venue)
• Southampton Tyro League ( Home and away/central Venue)
• Southampton Saturday Football League (home and away)
• Winchester Sunday League (home and away)

Female and disability league provision is delivered on a county basis.

The County FA reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Winchester primarily due to teams competing in large central venue leagues such as the Eastleigh and District Mini Soccer League.

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 Winchester there is one football team/session 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. Winchester has three FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow his activity.

At 27, Winchester’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 of them to develop playing opportunities for females. The local adult female league is the Hampshire County Women’s League in which matches are played on a home and away basis; it is expected to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Southampton. 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 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. Soccer Sixes- River Park Leisure Centre is a key local provider.

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 two affiliated futsal teams in Winchester. It is a priority for the County FA to grow futsal for all sections of the game.

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 Winchester. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisations including Winchester City Council.

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 Winchester is played in and around the City Centre at venues such as King George V Playing Fields.

The key strengths of local football in Winchester include adult male and youth football and it is recommended that this is sustained and encouraged to grow further. However, gaps include, female, disability, recreational and futsal opportunities. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Winchester are to:

1. Sustain male youth and adult football
2. Increase the number of womens and girls teams
3. Grow futsal within the Authority
4. Increase the number of Just Play centres
5. Support the development of disability opportunities

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 Winchester. 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.

The two full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Winchester are located at:

• Henry Beaufort School
• Swanmore College

In addition, five sites have small-sided 3G FTPs:

• Perins School - one 9v9 FTP (0.75 equivalent)
• Swanmore College - one 7v7 FTP (0.5 equivalent)
• River Park - one 7v7 FTP (0.5 equivalent)
• Whiteley Primary School - one 7v7 FTP (0.5 equivalent)
• Meadowside - two 5v5 (0.5 equivalent)

A new secondary school is proposed as part of the North Whitley Growth area (which will incorporate 3,500 new homes). The development is not due to commence until 2025, however, consultation indicates that this school will have a full sized 3G FTP as part of the facility mix. It will be important to revisit this project when the LFFP is reviewed.

The Winchester 2018 PPS indicated a shortfall of three full size 3G FTPs with a priority to focus on development of sites around the City Centre and in the north of the Authority. The stated shortfall in the PPS was calculated using the FA demand model of 1:42 rather than the latest model (1:38). Using the latest model, current affiliation data and based upon current supply, there is deemed to be a need for four full-sized 3G FTPs.

All of the 3G FTPs listed above are available for community use and the ones at Swanmore College and Henry Beaufort School are on the FA Register (meaning that they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the remainder are assessed and placed on the register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven; with a clear provision gap to the north of the the City Centre. A major issue facing the Authority as a whole when selecting sites for investment is planning restrictions due to a significant proportion of the Authority being located in the South Downs National Park. Any future sites will need to be located outside the National Park boundary.

Local consultation confirms the PPS findings related to the limited availability of 3G facilities in the Authority and that several clubs must either resort to using sand-dressed facilities or 3G FTPs in neighbouring authorities to accommodate training and match play demand.

Four priority projects for potential investment are identified. These include three new full sized 3G FTPs and the resurface of an existing youth 11v11 FTP. Although the projects proposed do not fully address the currently assessed shortfall of four it was agreed to deliver the listed projects and then to review once detail in respect of the opportunity linked to the North Whitley housing growth area is clear.

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 17 grass pitch sites in Winchester with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 68 grass pitches. Of these, according to the PPS and consultation undertaken for this plan, ten are considered to have good quality pitches while those at the other seven are rated as standard or poor.

It has been determined that six sites containing poor and standard rated pitches should be prioritised. In addition, the new grass pitches proposed at South Wickham will also require investment. Investment in these venues will, in total, result in quality improvements to 22 pitches:

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified.

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 17 key grass pitch sites in Winchester with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance) 12 have suitable changing rooms and four sites require improvement/replacement. In addition, the new site at Mill Lane will require a new pavilion.

Five 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.

No priority projects were identified in Winchester to support recreational and small sided football. The Authority has recently upgraded the majority of its MUGAs and green spaces and, given this, it was concluded that no further investment is required over the initial time period covered by this plan.

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:

• Winchester City Council
• Perins School
• Kings School
• Alresford Town Youth FC
• Bishops Waltham Dynamos Sports FC
• Littleton Juniors FC
• Whiteley Wanderers Youth FC
• Winchester Youth FC
• Winchester City Flyers FC
• Worthys Youth FC
• South Wickham Parish Council.