Play football in Epping Forest
Wanstead Flats is an iconic London football venue with a variety of casual and season pitch hire and facilities available including:
- up to 60 pitches suitable for:
- mini soccer
- 5-a-side football
- 7-a-side football
- 9-a-side football
- 11-a-side football
- fully accessible changing rooms
- disabled toilets
- free car parking
Booking
To book, please complete the relevant form and email it to Wanstead Flats.
| Casual booking type | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| 11 v 11 casual match (Adult 18+) |
£87.50 | £106.50 |
| 11 v 11 casual match (Female) | £67.50 | £75.00 |
| 11 v 11 casual match (Youth 16-18) |
£67.00 | £75.00 |
| 11 v 11 casual match (Youth U16) |
£50.50 | £52.50 |
| Season booking | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Season full size pitch (Adult 18+) | £1,494.00 | £2,127.00 |
| Season full size pitch (Female or U18) | £984.00 | £1,433.00 |
| Season full size pitch (U16) | £672.00 | £858.00 |
| Half-season full size pitch (Adult 18+) | £747.00 | £1,063.50 |
| Half-season full size pitch (Female or U18) | £492.00 | £716.50 |
| Half-season full size pitch (U16) | £336.00 | £429.00 |
Proposed football facilities at Wanstead Flats
Over the past 130 years Wanstead Flats has provided a key facility for sport in East London, alongside widespread provision for informal public access and nature conservation.
In July 2016, the City Corporation approved the submission of an ‘expression of interest’ for the Football Foundation funded ‘Parklife’ Football Hubs Programme – a national initiative designed to improve access to grassroots football. This submission was of interest to the Football Foundation, who would like to see more frequent access to inclusive grassroots football training and competitive matches in East London.
The Football Foundation granted £34,000 to commission early scoping and feasibility work which commenced in late 2017, with no commitment to progress the project. Following initial desk-based feasibility work the Football Foundation consented, in principle, to fund an ambitious project on Wanstead Flats. The City Corporation granted the same ‘in principle’ match funding in October 2020. The project seeks to provide additional facilities at the Harrow Road football site on Wanstead Flats, including the installation of three Artificial Grass Pitches (AGPs).
The project partners are still at the very early stages of project development, which has only just recommenced after a lengthy hiatus due to the pandemic. It is important to the partners to gather public opinion about any potential project and a programme of consultation will be an important part of any project development. However, the partners still have initial viability studies to complete, including outline planning advice to ascertain how feasible proposals are and to fully understand any constraints before the partners are in a position to consult the wider public.
The proposed project aims to sustain current levels of grassroots football provision on Wanstead Flats, which supports several health, wellbeing and diversionary activity targets for the local community. It also aims to reduce the overall footprint on the Flats taken up by sport by replacing 17 of the grass pitches with the three artificial grass pitches. This means that around 34 acres of Wanstead Flats can be recreated for ecological benefit such as wildflower meadow or species-rich grassland. At the same time the durability of AGPs will increase football pitch availability for use by local clubs, soccer schools, schools, afterschool clubs and the wider community.
As soon as public consultation is launched, expected to be later this winter, the partners will announce this on social media and the website.