Leicester City FC is celebrating this week after having taken a step closer towards bringing their ambition of creating Europe's best football training ground to reality, with the project having gained approval.
The club has secured planning permission to turn a 185 acre golf and fishing complex off the A46, eight miles north of Leicester, into a sprawling GBP£100m complex where the first team squad will practice.
It is Leicester City's hope that the improved training facilities will help them to secure a place among the elite clubs of England, and ultimately Europe.
The new complex, designed by KSS, is seriously breathtaking, and will feature:
- A covered show pitch with 499 seats, spectator toilets and an elevated camera platform
- 12 full size football pitches
- 6 part size grass pitches
- 2 goalkeeper areas
- 1 attacking area
- 5 warm up and technical training areas
- A sports hall
- Hydrotherapy, medical, rehabilitation and dining facilities.
- 30 bedrooms for the players and management
- 421 parking spaces
It will also have education facilities and offices, and be the first sports turf academy in the country to train groundsmen, as Sports Venue Business readers first heard about in our interview with Leicester City's Grounds Manager, John Ledwidge at the beginning of 2017.
A club spokesperson said: "We welcome the approval of its proposals by the planning committee and the opportunity to deliver on its pledge of a world-class facility befitting Leicestershire's traditions of sporting excellence. We hope to make this the start of a strong relationship for the collective benefit of our surrounding communities."
Speaking earlier this year about the training ground move, Leicester City Football Club Owner, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, said: "The club has experienced an extraordinary rate of growth in the last seven years and keeping the Leicestershire community at the heart of that growth has been and will continue to be a fundamental principle of our vision."
"The new training ground is a truly exciting phase of our development and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to demonstrate our ambition."
"We want to invest in the best possible training
facilities to develop and attract the world's elite sporting talent
to Leicester and to give them a competitive edge in a game that is
constantly evolving."
"It is crucial to us that the benefits brought about by the new development make the facility a source of pride for the Leicestershire community - known for so many years for its rich tradition in sporting development."
You can read the full article from Sports Venue Business HERE
