Local Football Facility Plan Wyre

Wyre is in the North West Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 110,261. This is expected to rise to 116,393 by 2039.

Wyre is ranked 28 out of 39 LAs in the region, and 168 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Wyre's ethnic composition is primarily white (98.24%). This is significantly higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Wyre’s population represented by the BAME community is 1.76%. This is below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The Wyre Local Plan was adopted in 2019 and includes policies that guide and support the role of playing pitches as a key land use in Wyre between 2014-2030/31. These policies will also enable developer contributions to be calculated using planning mechanisms which could include S106 and CIL if supported by the council. The Local Plan includes a Green Infrastructure Policy supported by Green Infrastructure guidance along with a playing pitch strategy.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was developed 2015 and has not, as yet, been refreshed. It is, as a consequence, now out of date. Its stated overarching priorities were to increase the provision of full size 3G FTPs. In respect of grass pitches the PPS highlighted that the majority of sites have poor quality pitches. It also notes that the changing facilities at a number of sites are also of poor quality.

County football association

Wyre is covered by the Lancashire 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). The Fleetwood Town Community Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

YMCA is the key leisure operator in Wyre. It currently runs four key sites at; Fleetwood, Garstang, Poulton le Fylde and Thornton Cleveleys. The Fleetwood and Garstang centres have indoor sports halls which are utilised for recreational football. Additionally, there are two 5v5 3G FTPs at the Thornton Cleveleys Centre; these are well used for recreational football and some affiliated training.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Wyre. 15 individuals (representing 11 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Wyre Council
• Poulton Town FC
• Regenda Homes

(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. Wyre has a total of 186 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 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Wyre, eight clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Fleetwood Town Juniors- 41 teams
• Myerscough Juniors FDC - 28 teams
• Poulton Town Youth- 20 teams
• Thornton Cleveleys Juniors - 20 teams
• Fleetwood Gym - 16 teams
• Poulton (Youth) - 15 teams
• Wyre Juniors - 15 teams
• Fleetwood Town FC - 14 teams

Leagues

Nine leagues cater for clubs and teams in Wyre. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women, girls, youth and adults. While there is no specific league opportunity for disability players in Wyre, suitable provision is available in neighbouring Preston. Wyre is located between larger urban towns such as Blackpool, Preston and Lancaster. The majority of the teams that train in Wyre migrate to neighbouring boroughs to access competition football. The largest of the local leagues (2018-19) include:

• Poulton and District Primary League– 287 teams– home and away fixtures and central venue at multiple sites.
• Central Lancashire Junior Football League – 220 teams– home and away fixtures.
• Mid Lancashire Colts Junior Football League– 218 teams– home and away fixtures and central venue.

The County FA, thus, reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Wyre due, as noted, to teams migrating to play in the Poulton and District Primary League in Blackpool, Central Lancashire JFL and Mid Lancashire Colts JFL in Preston.

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 Wyre 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. Wyre has one FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 15, Wyre’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 clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league is the West Lancashire Girls Football 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 Lancashire FA Women’s County League. It too plays matches on a home and away basis and is expected to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Blackburn Rovers FC which is located in Blackburn with Darwen. 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 teams are Manchester United and Manchester City which provide player pathway opportunities for gifted and talented female players and a spectator interest for fans. In addition, Blackburn Rovers FC has a team which plays is the FA Women's Championship and provides similar player/spectator interests for the local area.

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:

• Poolfoot Farm Sports & Leisure Complex (Fleetwood Town FC Training Complex)
• YMCA Thornton

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 14 futsal teams in Wyre that play in the Fylde Coast League at key site locations including the out of borough Blackpool Sports Centre. It is a priority for the County FA 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 two FA Just Play centres in Wyre. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisations such as Fleetwood Town FC Community Trust .

Informal football

Informal football is played in local parks and green spaces – it is free, open access and often played spontaneously (normal clothing is worn). Common examples include a kick-about at a local park or on a multi-use games area (MUGA).

Currently, informal football in Wyre is played particularly in the West of the local authority. King Georges Playing Fields on Fleetwood Road and another site by the same name on Fleetwood Road North are key heavily used site locations.

The key strengths of local football in Wyre include high levels of youth football, along with women's and girl's team provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist, these include adult male football. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Wyre are:

1. Development of small sided recreational facilities in key identified areas
2. Significant engagement in Grass Pitch Improvement Programme to improve natural turf pitches
3. Improving changing provision stock at key sites

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 Wyre. 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 has been reviewed applying a standard approach, supplemented by input from consultation with local partners and stakeholder organisations.

While investment priorities are reviewed individually, it is understood that they can be inter-reliant; account is, thus, taken of these potential connections.

3G FTPs are a high quality and indispensable part of modern football facilities; their impact cannot be underestimated. In recent years the industry has seen major innovations and improvements to artificial surfaces (and sports lighting). This has created playing surfaces that replicate a good standard natural turf pitch whilst significantly increasing levels of use (x20). All FTPs must have sports lighting to achieve this.

The high quality, consistent playing surface is the ideal environment to play the game and for young people to learn. With regular maintenance programmes, FTPs can be heavily used all year round with no decline in quality. They almost completely negate annoying fixture cancellations during winter months, helping football to be a key part of a regular physical activity habit.

High capacity levels offer a great opportunity to embrace all formats and engage all participants. A full-sized 3G caters for an average of 1,200 participants per week and is suitable for various location types. That means being fully inclusive to all sections of the community, with a particular focus on under-represented groups such as women and girls, people with a disability, BAME communities and people from lower socio-economic groups.

The way 3G FTPs are used is rapidly changing; current line-marking systems allow for match play across all formats of football (5v5, 7v7, 9v9 and 11v11). This enables significant levels of match-play to be transferred from grass to 3G.

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

• Poolfoot Farm Sports & Leisure Complex (Fleetwood Town FC Training Complex) (two 11v11 FTPs at this site)
• Myerscough (College) Sports Centre.

In addition, there are seven small-sided 3G FTPs located at :

• Fleetwood High School (one 7v7)
• Poolfoot Farm Sports & Leisure Complex (Fleetwood Town FC Training Complex) (four 5v5)
• YMCA Thornton (two 5v5)

As noted above, the Authority's PPS was produced in 2015 and is thus out of date. As a result, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using FA 3G demand modelling. Based upon this, there is a shortfall of two full-sized 3G FTPs relative to assessed demand. All of the abovementioned full size 3G FTPs are available for community use. The facilities at Poolfoot Farm Sports & Leisure complex are utilised by Fleetwood Town FC Community Trust, along with a range of other community user groups. Only one 3G FTP (the one at Fleetwood High School) is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning that it has been quality checked and passed for use for football match play). It is highly recommended that the other existing and any new 3G FTP developments (full and/or small sided) are assessed and placed on the Register to ensure quality and enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread is uneven. There are provision gaps in the Poutlon (south west) and Fleetwood (north west) areas of the district despite substantial local populations; it is recommended that the focus for 3G FTP development should be in these areas.. Local consultation confirms common issues associated with facility hire costs and limited availability. These too need to be addressed.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified; two full sized developments, and one full sized facility enhancement. The suggested enhancement is for Poolfoot Farm Sports and Leisure complex where there is potential to add a domed cover to one of the existing full sized 3G FTPs.

Options proposed were selected based upon site availability and the need to service affiliated football and key settlements:

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 13 grass pitch sites in Wyre with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 55 grass pitches. Of the pitches across these sites, 13 are considered to be of good quality, 14 of standard quality pitches and 28 poor quality.

Of the 13 key pitch sites referenced, six are prioritised. This will positively affect the quality of a total of 19 pitches.

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and ratified by local partners during LFFP consultation. The rationale is based upon improving sites that have a substantial number of pitches that are in poor condition and that are, or offer potential to be, best utilised:

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 13 key grass pitch sites in Wyre with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance), eight have suitable changing rooms, and four require improvement/replacement. One site (Gamble Road Recreation Ground) has no provision and requires a new changing 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.

Local consultation reveals there is a potential opportunity for development of an indoor Futsal centre in the Wyre area. This is in the early stages of development and further analysis and research is required to determine feasibility and best location for the project. Further to this, Stanley Park in neighbouring Blackpool has been listed as at this site there are future aspirations to review and improve the sporting offer across the site which may present opportunity for development of indoor space for football and Futsal. The site may have potential to cater for demand from Wyre, further analysis and investigation is required to ascertain this.

Four potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. This includes three area wide opportunities for which further research and analysis is required to ascertain the specific locations where investment will be best placed. In each case the rationale is (or will be) based on sites being in an area of substantial population density with limited green space and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

No locations are presently identified to support small sided informal football. Further work to to determine potential for improvements will be undertaken by Wyre Council.

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:

• Active Lives and Community Engagement Manager - Wyre Council
• Club representative - Fleetwood Gym FC
• Club representative - Fleetwood Town Juniors FC
• Club representative- Poulton FC
• Club representative- Poulton Town FC
• Club representative- Thornton Cleveleys FC
• Club representative - Wyre Juniors
• Director of Community & Education - Fleetwood Town FC
• Engagement Manager - Football Foundation
• Football Development Officer (Wyre) - Lancashire Football Association
• Head of Facilities & Investment - Lancashire Football Association
• Parks & Open Spaces Manager - Wyre Council
• Regeneration Manager - Regenda Homes
• Regional Director - Regenda Homes
• Senior Planning Manager - Wyre Council