Local Football Facility Plan Wokingham

Demographics for the area can be seen below:

Local authority

The Wokingham Borough Council Plan sets out a vision for Wokingham Borough to be a great place to live, learn, work & grow, and a great place to do business. The strategy provides a series of commitments to achieving the vision, including:

• Providing safe and strong communities.
• Enriching lives.
• Delivering the right homes in the right places.
• Keeping the borough moving.
• Enjoying a clean and green borough.
• Changing the way we work for you.
• Being the best we can be.

Sports facilities can play a key role in our communities, and have a positive impact on the lives of residents. Therefore, the LFFP provides an opportunity to identify potential investment priorities which also support the achievement of several these commitments.

The local authority has a Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) in place; this was adopted in 2023. The key findings and stated overarching priorities are:

• The majority of grass pitches are standard quality, 76% (112) in total. 8% (11) of pitches are good quality, and the remaining 16% (24 pitches) were assessed as poor.
• There are current shortfalls on adult, junior football 11v11 and junior football 9v9 pitches in the Borough.
• Of the 30 sites with ancillary provision, the majority are considered to be of a good (12 facilities) or standard (13 facilities) quality, however five sites have poor quality facilities. A further 18 sites don't currently have ancillary provision.
• 65% of football clubs who took part in the consultation identified that access to a 3G AGP for training was a barrier to them growing their club.
• There is a shortfall of eight 3G AGPs to meet current demand.

County Football Association

Wokingham is covered by the 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 Delivery Manager and Regional Technical Project Manager at the Football Foundation work collaboratively with the County FA to provide pre-application support and lead on the delivery of priority projects for potential investment. The Regional Facility Planning Manager (FPM) will lead and be responsible for all aspects of strategic planning and will lead on refreshing of LFFPs.

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). The Reading FC Community Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

Places Leisure is a key leisure operator in Wokingham, operating sites such as Arborfield Leisure Centre and St Crispin's Leisure Centre, although the majority of football stock is operated by schools as well as parish and town councils.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Wokingham. The agencies consulted include:

• Wokingham Borough Council
• Berks & Bucks County FA
• Get Berkshire Active
• Reading FC Community Trust
• Sport England
• National Governing Bodies of sport, including
  • England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
  • England Hockey
  • The Rugby Football Union (RFU)
  • The Rugby Football League (RFL)
• Local football clubs

Local consultation took place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in the original LFFP. All local football clubs were consulted as part of the recent PPS, with feedback incorporated into the PPS findings. As the LFFP reviews PPS content to develop a refreshed plan, additional further consultation was not undertaken due to being considered a duplication of recent feedback opportunities.

It is, however, a requirement that all projects that move through to application phase undertake detailed community engagement to ensure that facilities fully serve the communities they are being designed for.

Clubs

There are over 91,000 community football teams in England, spread over an expansive network of clubs and leagues. Wokingham has a total of 660 teams.

Survive. Revive. Thrive is the FA Grassroots Football Strategy 2020-2024. To deliver the goals for male and female football, there must be a vibrant, best-in-class club network around the country. The FA will work to encourage as many clubs as possible to achieve FA-Accredited status, assuring quality in everything they offer, including ever-safer and stronger player pathways. This will be coupled with a commitment to improve the quality of thousands of pitches up and down the country, with a particular focus on grass pitches.

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Wokingham, 10 clubs have more than 10 registered teams. The largest of these (based upon 2023-24 affiliation data) are:

• Wokingham & Emmbrook FC - 66 teams
• Pinewood FC - 57 teams
• Woodley United FC - 49 teams
• Finchampstead FC - 46 teams
• Laurel Park FC - 34 teams
• Shinfield Rangers FC - 34 teams
• Twyford Comets FC - 34 teams
• Ashrideg Park FC - 31 teams
• Woodley Wanderers & Youth FC - 28 teams
• AFC Reading - 26 teams

Leagues

These 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 Wokingham, suitable provision is made in neighbouring Oxford.

Wokingham's largest local leagues (2023-24) include:

• East Berks Football Alliance – 953 teams – home and away
• Berkshire County Girls League – 289 teams – home and away
• Berkshire Youth Development League – 284 teams – central venue

The PPS identifies some cross boundary migration out of Wokingham due to teams migrating outwards, the majority of which are exported to Reading.

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 Wokingham there are two 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 had big ambitions for women and girls football and managed to double levels of participation between 2017 and 2020. To achieve this required a combined effort across four pathways: education, recreation, competition and talent. Despite achieving this ambitious target more places to play are still required for women and girls. The focus now is to give all girls equal access to football by 2024 and this will be a key objective of any facility investment. The FA’s four-year strategy, titled Inspiring Positive Change, pledges to create a sustainable future for women’s and girls’ football in England. The strategy outlines eight transformational objectives to be achieved by 2024, the following across grassroots football:-

• Early Participation – Every primary school-aged girl to have equal access to football in school and in clubs.
• Development Participation – Every girl to have equal access to participate for fun, for competition and for excellence.
• Club Player Pathway – Collaborate with clubs to develop an effective high-performance, inclusive player-centred pathway.
• Football For All – Recruit and support a motivated, diverse range of local leaders organising football for their communities.
• Coaching – Support the development of exceptional coaches at every level of the game who are representative of our society.
• Refereeing – Ensure that every female referee afforded high-quality bespoke learning and development opportunities from grassroots through to the elite game.

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. Wokingham has four FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain this activity.

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. The local adult female league is the Thames Valley Counties Women's League in which are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the Girls' Emerging Talent Centres (ETCs) across the nation are provided to increase and diversify the talent pool and give more girls than ever the chance to take their first steps on the pathway towards playing professional football. Reading FC operate an ETC in Reading. 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 Chelsea, whilst nearby Reading FC participate in the Women's Championship. These clubs provide 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:

• Goals Reading
• Powerplay Wokingham

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 is currently one FA Just Play centres in Wokingham. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Hurst FC, Woodley Pensioners FC and Wokingham & Emmbrook FC. There are nine walking football sessions in the area, with a mixture of recreational sessions and those that participate in the Thames Valley Walking Football League. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include Dynamo Tekkers and Whiteknights futsal, and the Berks & Bucks FA Flexi League.

The key strengths of local football in Wokingham include a large number of mini soccer, youth male and youth female teams in the area. There is also a strong presence of three-star England Football accredited clubs. It is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further.

Berks & Bucks FA have identified that the future football development priorities for Wokingham are:

1. Continued expansion of the female game.
2. Development of a wider variety of opportunities for all to play.
3. Providing additional opportunities for those with disabilities to participate.

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. 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 Artificial Grass Pitches (AGPs)
• Improved grass pitches
• Off pitch and ancillary facilities (e.g. toilets, changing rooms, catering)
• Small sided facilities

To ensure a consistent and high quality approach, each local area has been 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 pitches 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 3G pitches 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, 3G pitches 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 pitches 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.

Existing full-sized (11 v 11) 3G AGPs in Wokingham include:

• Arborfield Green Leisure Centre
• Berkshire County Sports Club
• Cantley Park
• Farley Hill Primary School
• Bearwood Park (Reading FC)
• Ryeish Green Sports Hub
• The Piggott School
• Waingels College

The pitch at Bearwood Park is currently unavailable to the community, due to exclusive use by Reading FC.

Additionally, there are currently 18 small-sided 3G AGP centres in Wokingham:

• Farley Hill Primary School (7v7)
• Floreat Montague Park School (9v9)
• Goals Reading (12 x 5v5)
• Hillside Primary School (7v7)
• St Crispin's Leisure Centre (5v5)
• The Forest School (9v9)
• Woodford Park Leisure Centre (youth 11v11)

Community use of The Forest School is limited, due to extensive use of the facility by Reading FC's academy.

Wokingham has a PPS undertaken in 2023. Based on 654 teams affiliated within the borough, and considering the FA training ratio model of 1:38, the PPS recognised a need for 17 full-sized 3G FTPs.

With seven current full-sized FTPs, plus the smaller pitches at Floreat Montague Park School and Woodford Park Leisure Centre catering for affiliated football demand, the PPS considered the shortfall position to be equivalent to nine full sized pitches.

Berkshire County Sports Club has been developed since production of the PPS, and therefore the revised shortfall based on the PPS analysis should be considered as eight full sized pitches.

Seven of the eight full-sized pitches are on the FA Register for 3G AGPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the remaining pitch is assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is even, with current provision distributed across the authority.

Over the lifetime of the Local Football Facility Plan, changes in demand are likely to impact upon future facilities needs. The FA has seen unprecedented growth in football over the last five years, particularly in the youth and women & girls game. Overall participation is estimated to grow by 3% year on year, equating to an additional 316 teams by 2030, of which 137 will come from women and girls. This would represent the equivalent of an additional eight 11v11 3G FTPs. These are included within the priority project list as growth projects, with the need to identify suitable sites if/when these growth estimations are realised. Some of the anticipated growth is likely to be associated with population growth as well as participation growth, and therefore opportunities to enhance provision to support areas of growth are recommended.

Five priority projects for potential investment are identified to deliver seven FTPs, due to some anticipated demand being met by forthcoming FTPs in neighbouring Reading, which are likely to service some clubs in the Urban Western Area, however a further project could be considered within Wokingham above and beyond those listed, subject to demonstrating a suitable project plan and programme of use to warrant further provision above the seven projects identified.

Each project was selected based upon a rationale of good access, and providing provision aligned to identified shortfall areas. In some instances it might not be possible to deliver all of the required 3G FTP demand within the sub analysis area that it is generated in. This may result in 3G FTPs being delivered in a different sub analysis area to where the demand is generated.

The Football Foundation is on a mission to transform the quality of grass football pitches across England, because great facilities enhance physical and mental wellbeing, strengthen communities and empower people. The quality of football pitches is a huge issue for community football; 150,000 matches were postponed due to poor pitches during the last full football season. We are therefore on a mission to improve 20,000 grass pitches across England.

The Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund is a £21m fund that provides eligible clubs and leagues with a tapered six-year grant to help them sustain pitches already at a 'good' level and enhance pitches that are either considered 'poor' or 'basic'. In order to be eligible, clubs and leagues must use the PitchPower app to assess their pitches. This provides a detailed assessment report with recommendations on improving the quality of grass pitches. The PitchPower app is available to all pitch owners as a way to assess grass pitch quality and gain access to grass pitch improvement recommendations. See Football Foundation | PitchPower

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.

Through the use of PitchPower we are able to identify the demand for investment into new or additional machinery and equipment and see this as an important step towards sustainability for the voluntary sector. Ensuring clubs and leagues can maintain their own sites, supplemented by contracted out major works (e.g. aeration) is potentially a more cost effective approach in the long term.

While the education sector (23.8%) and local authorities (51.8%) are still the principal asset owners of grass pitches and have the heaviest reliance for affiliated matches, clubs / leagues own or maintain an increasing share and we will continue to prioritise investment into sites that are maintained by clubs or leagues.

PitchPower has allowed all club or league owned and leased sites to apply for funding to improve grass pitch maintenance. In Wokingham, the following sites have applied for this funding and the aim now should be to get the pitches up to the 'good' standard and work to sustain them.

• Berkshire County Sports Club
• Millworth Lane Recreation Ground (Shinfield Rangers FC)
• Pinewood Centre (Pinewood FC)

Furthermore, Laurel Park is subject to ongoing project development via the Football Foundation's Home Advantage Programme, which is intended to include funding support to deliver enhancements to grass pitches.

The PPS identifies another 13 sites containing poor quality pitches which are currently in use. Of those, the following are eligible to access GPMF to support improvements to grass pitch quality:

• Radstock Primary School
• King George V Playing Field (Wokingham)
• Langborough Recreation Ground
• Riseley Recreation Ground
• Spencers Wood Recreation Ground
• Swallowfield Recreation Ground
• Woodford Park Leisure Centre

It is recommended that these site complete an inspection via PitchPower, with a view to seeking funding to support enhanced maintenance.

The following sites, whilst not identified as eligible for GPMF at the time of writing, are a priority for grass pitch improvements due to the identified poor quality, and existing community use

• Arborfield Garrison
• Chalfont Park
• Sandford Park
• Waverley Way Play Area

Cantley Park and Ryeish Green Sports Hub have both secured funding via the Football Foundation to deliver 3G FTPs, a condition of which is to reinvest surpluses into enhanced grass pitch maintenance, and are therefore included from the identified priority pitch projects within this LFFP.

The priority now is to concentrate on sustainable solutions for pitch maintenance going forward on council owned sites, and seeking GPMF for other sites identified as eligible. The first step is to ensure that all pitches have a baseline quality assessment done via PitchPower.

11 priority projects for potential investment have been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by a combination of PitchPower (where available) and the PPS. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites with poor quality pitches, and in regular use for football activity.

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 AGPs 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 key grass pitch sites in Wokingham, the PPS identifies five sites as having poor quality ancillary provision. These are:

• Bearwood Recreation Ground
• Hatch Ride Primary School
• Laurel Park
• Millworth Lane Recreation Ground
• Stanlake Meadow

Bearwood Recreation Ground caters primarily to youth football, and therefore team changing facilities may not be a high priority, however improvements to toilets and other ancillary provision are recommended.

Hatch Ride Primary offers a single youth pitch, and is therefore not considered a high priority LFFP project for investment into improvements.

Support for Laurel Park is already being progressed via the Home Advantage Programme (HAP), which is exploring ancillary provision to support the well-used pitches. The site is therefore excluded from the LFFP ancillary project list due to plans being in development through HAP.

Millworth Lane Recreation Ground and Stanlake Meadow provide multiple pitches, and are multi-sport sites, and therefore are each identified as priority projects for consideration.

In addition to the sites identified in the PPS as poor, Berkshire County Sports Club - although having received investment to support 'on-the-pitch' improvements - still has dated facilities that are subjected to high levels of usage. These are therefore included as a priority project to allow for reconfiguration and upgrades.

Furthermore, 18 sites currently offer no ancillary provision. Of those, four provide multiple grass pitches and support regular football activity, and therefore are considered priorities for the development of suitable facilities.

• Chalfont Park
• King George V Recreation Ground (Twyford)
• Pinewood Centre
• Waverley Way Play Area

Arborfield Garrison is in need of suitable ancillary provision, however as this is a section 106 requirement aligned to local housing development, this project is not listed as a priority within the LFFP.

Where 3G FTP projects have been listed with further detail to be confirmed in relation their exact location, these have also been included as projects within this section to ensure an allowance for such facilities if/when required once pitch projects are progressed.

13 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, the audiences and the various facility types they relate to.

Research suggests that small-sided players in teams and leagues, and in organised 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 AGP 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.

Whilst our priorities will always be football led, we believe Small sided facilities provide a good opportunity to collaborate with other sports to deliver high quality spaces for people to play recreational sport. This will be achieved via our PlayZones Programme:

Football Foundation PlayZone Programme

PlayZones are modern, safe, and engaging facilities that are designed for recreational football and at least one other sport. There are a range of facility types to meet the needs of different sports.

Through this programme we want to address stubborn inequalities in activity levels and access to sports facilities within four priority groups:

• Lower socio-economic groups
• Women and girls
• Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions
• Ethnically diverse communities

Our research also shows us that when it comes to small sided facilities one size does not fit all and localised design and ownership will yield the greatest engagement from under represented groups. Activation is also as important as the facility itself for these groups. This section of the LFFP will concentrate on suitable places for PlayZones.

Suitable places will be identified through a combination of mapping, to include identification of our priority groups and crossover with other multi-sport priorities. Further community engagement will be required for design and delivery. Where some engagement has already been carried out projects will appear in the project list.

All projects will then need to be developed by a cross sector consortium where partners who understand and represent the people and the place come together to drive the project forward and create access and opportunities for priority groups.

Our research shows us that community engagement is the key to developing great small sided facilities and that we shouldn't try and identify sites without first identifying two key things:

• Key priority places within the local authority
• Key priority groups within the local authority

Once these two things are identified local community engagement is required to identify potential sites for investment.

The key priority groups to consider when delivering community engagement and considering PlayZones in Wokingham are:

• Lower socio-economic groups
• Women and girls
• Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions
• Ethnically diverse communities

This priority group of places and people will be ratified throughout the process and the next step is to now begin community engagement to help identify where the specific sites are that will help to tackle inequalities and provide spaces for activity.

A range of local agencies were invited to participate in the LFFP consultation. Those that contributed are listed below.

• Wokingham Borough Council
• Berks & Bucks County FA
• Get Berkshire Active
• Reading FC Community Trust
• Sport England
• National Governing Bodies of sport, including
  • England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
  • England Hockey
  • The Rugby Football Union (RFU)
  • The Rugby Football League (RFL)

Due to their recent participation in the club consultation to support the development of the PPS, and the LFFP subsequently being developed on the basis of the content of the PPS, further club engagement has not been undertaken in the development of this plan.