Payment Arrangements

To secure your football pitch booking please complete the following steps:

Step 1

Complete the digital Outdoor Hire Application and Agreement in full then sign and date this as indicated. The pitch booking cannot be generated until this is received.

Step 2

Send in your completed Outdoor Hire Application and Agreement form, stating the preferred pitch for your team.

Step 3

The Football Service will get in touch with you once your application has been received to either take the full payment or a £100 deposit if the pitch is available. If it is not, we will try to accommodate your teams needs on another pitch.

Documentation can be hand delivered should you wish to do this rather than using the postal service. This can be done by returning all completed documents between 9am and 5pm Monday-Friday to the following address:

Dimensions Leisure Centre Scotia Road
Burslem
Stoke-on-Trent

ST6 4ET

If you do not have an email address or do not check this on a regular basis, you may want to nominate another member in your team for us to email. It is essential that teams provide a valid email address when a booking is placed, and that this is checked on a regular basis throughout the season, as we use this to inform teams of any cancellations during the season. Failure to provide a suitable email address will result in the application being rejected.

Invoice Payment Methods

Invoices will be raised at the end of September 2020 once the season has commenced. Invoices will be sent to the address provided on the booking form. You can pay for your pitch outright or via an instalment plan, which will consist of a £100 deposit and then a balance due in September 2020 and then October 2020.

Failure to make payment

If the full payment has not been received by Friday 30th October 2020 then you will be immediately reported to the relevant league that your team is part of and Staffordshire FA will also be notified. No games will be allowed on the hired pitch until the balance has been cleared.

Football Pitch Hire Terms and Conditions

Please read the following and understand that a breach in these terms may result in your hire contract being terminated.

COVID-19

All teams must familiarise themselves with the FA Guidelines regarding Covid-19. Teams must ensure these guidelines are adhered to.

Each home club is responsible for its' own risk assessment and must have their own Covid officer and must liaise with the venue owner/landlord to combine both the club and venue Covid Compliant assessment.

Spectators/clubs must ensure a track and trace system is in place and people attending games must adhere to social distancing criteria. Groups of 6 people standing together is a maximum.

General

1. The period of use is from the first weekend of the hirer’s football season to the end of that season. Any requests to play matches including pre-season training, friendly and charity matches, outside of this period must be agreed with the Health & Leisure team and will incur an additional pitch hire charge.
2. Fees must be paid in advance, no later than the specified due date. If payments are not made by this date, then the hire agreement is void. Failure to pay by the set date may also affect the team’s ability to be considered as a priority for the following season.
3. The agreement relates to the pitch specified on the application form only. Teams may not use any other pitch without the prior permission from the Health & Leisure team.
4. If a team requires a one-off use of another pitch on the site they currently hire, and it is outside of office hours, they must seek permission from all teams who hire the substitute pitch.
5. Entrances to parks, recreational areas and residential properties must be kept clear at all times and where provided, car parks must be used. Car sharing is advised as parking at most sites is limited.
6. Marking out of pitches will be carried out by the City Council, on a bi-weekly basis. Please note that during extreme wet weather, this may not be possible. This agreement also includes provision for pitches to be cut on a bi-weekly basis during the growing season. Please contact the football service should there be any issues with pitch marking or cutting.
7. Goal nets and respect barriers are not provided the City Council.
8. Teams are expected to contact their League Secretaries in order to co-ordinate matches and make arrangements with other teams to avoid double bookings.
9. The City Council will not be liable for the loss of money or damage to any articles brought onto the City Council’s premises.

1. The hire of some pitches will include the loan of keys for the changing facilities. These keys are obtainable from the Health & Leisure team, at the start of the season. There is a £20 deposit required for the loan of the keys. All keys must be signed in and out. Any keys loaned must be returned following the conclusion of the season. Failure to return these keys will incur a charge to the value of the padlocks and keys loaned out.
2. Only players and officials shall be admitted to the changing rooms and they shall vacate the premises if required to do so by the Council’s staff.
3. Clubs shall be responsible for the cost of any damage caused to these premises. Where the team responsible cannot be determined, the cost will be split between all teams using the facility on that day.
4. Teams shall behave at all times in a proper and orderly manner without disturbance to, or interference with, other users of the area and households nearby. Teams should not allow players to urinate in public areas, including against residential walls/fences. Teams should limit bad language, to ensure they do not offend residents and the general public.
5. Where changing facilities are not provided, clubs must make proper arrangements. Changing in the open is NOT permitted.
6. The Home Team will be responsible for the removal of litter from around the pitch following the match. If the City Council receives reports of littering, this will be investigated and this may lead to the cancellation of your pitch hire. Random spot checks will take place during the 20/21 season by Leisure staff. Subsequently the teams found littering will be reported.
7. The home team is responsible for the conduct of away teams, in the respect of upholding these terms and conditions.
8. No charge for admission to a football match shall be made by any person or persons without the previous consent, in writing, from the City Council.
9. Any change of secretary or secretary details must be notified to the Health and Leisure team immediately via email. In correspondence, Club Secretaries must state the ground on which their team play. All correspondence will be sent directly to the Club Secretary named on the bookings form unless otherwise notified.
10. The City Council reserve the right to close football grounds at any time, for any length of period, that they may consider necessary, without any liability. If the pitches are open, the decision as to whether or not a pitch is considered suitable for play will be taken by the referee on the day.
11. The City Council reserve the right to terminate the use of any pitch at any time without notice.
12. The City Council reserve the right from time to time, to alter, modify or rescind all or any of the foregoing conditions and to impose new or additional conditions, as they consider necessary, without notice.
13. Teams should ensure that the car parking is co-ordinated, allowing access at all times for emergency services to access the site if necessary.

1. The City Council may in its absolute discretion terminate the agreement subject to giving the Club Secretary not less than one month’s notice.
2. After the season has started if the hirer for any reason requests cancellation of their booking, it is fair to say that the pitch would not be able to be re-let, and no refunds would be given.
3. It is not permitted for teams to play home games on any pitch other than that hired for the current season. If teams wish to do this, they will be charged an additional fee at the single hire rate for the pitch used.
4. For teams who hire changing facilities from the council, the first team on site will be responsible for checking the facility is safe to use and the last team to leave will be responsible for ensuring the facility is left in a safe and secure condition.

Changing Rooms

It is the hirer’s responsibility upon arrival to:

1. Open up the pavilion to allow home and away teams for your match to change.
2. Lock the pavilion prior to the commencement of the match, (Pavilions should not be left open to facilitate toilet facilities for other teams who have not paid for the use of the facilities). If the toilet is required by a team member it is the key holder’s responsibility to open the facility to facilitate this and immediately secure it again following use.
3. Keys are not transferable; under no circumstances should the key holder pass keys on to another team.
4. Following the game, key holders should open up the pavilion allowing the home and away teams from your match to change, and fully lock the facility upon departure. If there are players from another match using the pavilion when the last home / away player from your match is ready to leave, it is the key holder’s responsibility to check that the team still on site have access to keys so that the facility can be secured. Should this not be the case the key holder should remain on site until the building can be secured and report the incident to Sport and Leisure Services.
5. Any keys lost should be reported to footballservice@stoke.gov.uk. Key deposits are forfeit if keys are lost and teams will be charged for the replacement of the padlock if the key is not returned. All keys must be returned at the end of the season.
6. No additional keys may be cut by teams.
7. All maintenance issues should be reported to the football service ASAP.
8. For any out of hours urgent maintenance issue such as a break in, flooding etc. please call 01782 233110.
9. Some changing pavilions have gas fired heating. If you arrive at a pavilion and smell gas, please call the National Emergency Gas Service on 0800 111 999. Once you have done this, please ensure that you open all doors and windows to ventilate the property. Do not turn on/off any electrical switches and extinguish all naked flames. Do not smoke, strike matches or do anything which could cause ignition. Please also phone 01782 233110 to inform the City Council.

By signing and returning the booking form you are agreeing to all the above terms and conditions.

Privacy Statement

This privacy notice is published in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which formally came into effect on the 25th May 2018. This notice is in addition to Stoke on Trent City Council’s data protection policy. Details of your rights under data protection legislation are available at:

www.stoke.gov.uk/dataprotection

We will collect the following information:

• Club name
• Team secretary name and contact information, including contact email address
• What we do with the information we gather
• We require this information to effectively coordinate the hire of football pitch bookings and to specifically manage the pitch sharing process to avoid same day and time kick offs.
• Security
• We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure, and take all appropriate measures to prevent unauthorised disclosure.
  This data will be passed onto league secretaries for match scheduling purposes.
• Controlling your personal information
• We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission. Sometimes we are also required to disclose information by law.
• If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
• Key Policy
• The hire of certain facilities will include the loan of keys for changing facilities and gates/barriers.
  These keys are obtainable from Dimensions Leisure Centre at the start of the season. A refundable deposit of £20.00 will be required upon collection. All keys must be signed in and out. Any keys loaned out must be returned following the conclusion of the season. Failure to return these keys will result in loss of your deposit.