Sefton has a shortage of thirteen 3G pitches for local football teams to play on.
The figures for the third generation artificial turf pitches were revealed in the local authority’s new Playing Pitch and Outdoor Sports Strategy, which is due to be approved by Sefton’s Cabinet meeting this Thursday (27th July 2023).
The Strategy also identifies 20 priority sites for football grass pitch improvements, mostly Sefton Council pitch sites, for example, and a number of sites for improved ancillary facilities.
Saffron however has warned of “limited resources … due to successive budget reductions”.
Council officers are hoping that the evidence in the new report can help to attract external grant funding from bodies such as Sport England.
Individual clubs also have “a key role in driving forward increased participation and inclusivity in groups traditionally underrepresented in outdoor sports.
There is a real drive for example to grow women’s participation in sport, especially at a time like now with the Women’s World Cup taking place.
The latest technology 3G pitch artificial grass is hailed as a good quality alternative to natural grass and meets the FIFA, FA, IRB, RFU and RFL accreditations of the football and rugby governing bodies in the UK.
New 3G pitches opened at Dunes Leisure Centre in Southport in 2018 for example but several more are needed.
The Playing Pitch and Outdoor Sports Strategy identifies a current shortfall of thirteen 3G pitches in Sefton;
4 in Bootle & Netherton
2 in Crosby
3.5 in Formby
1 in Sefton East
2.5 in Southport
In the report, Assistant Director of Place (Economic Growth and Housing) Stuart Barnes said: “This reflects the long-term ambition of the Football Association (FA) to provide every FA-affiliated team in England with the opportunity to train once a week on a sports lit 3G surface, secured through a community use agreement.
“The assumption used in the Playing Pitch and Outdoor Sports Strategy is that one 3G pitch can support 38 teams.
“The PPOSS identifies around 20 sites which could, in theory, be suitable to meet the identified shortfall of 3G pitches. These are mostly school sites but include some playing fields.
“It is considered to be the role of future more focussed work to set out a 3G pitch implementation strategy in Sefton.
“The relevant council departments also may wish to take forward and further consolidate other relevant PPOSS recommendations (for example, grass pitch quality, or parks’ tennis court initiatives and improved disability and gender specific changing facilities and infrastructure to encourage greater female and disabled participation) as a series of focussed reports, plans and/or priorities.”
In the report, Stuart Barnes said that “in terms of the quality of community use pitches, over half of football pitches are considered to be standard quality, though with more of the rest being of poor rather than high quality”.
The 2023 Sefton Playing Pitch and Open Space Strategy will replace the 2016 Playing Pitch Strategy which is out of date according to Sport England guidance.
This will help Sefton Council to protect sports sites from loss due to development, help justify developer contributions, provide a strategic context for sports asset provision and management and support and justify investment decisions including external funding bids.
In the report, Stuart Barnes said: “The Sefton Playing Pitch and Open Space Strategy sets a strategic framework to make sure that Sefton will be able to best meet existing and future need for outdoor sports within the constraints of limited resources.
“The council and partners are heavily dependent upon the availability of external grant funding. “Therefore, the implementation role of Sport England and sports’ National Governing Bodies, and indeed clubs, leagues and other organisations, is welcomed.
“It is individual clubs who would have a key role in driving forward increased participation and inclusivity in groups traditionally underrepresented in outdoor sports, for example.”
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