By Andrew Warshaw
October 9 – After years of delays, postponements and foot-dragging, English football’s new £105 million ($170,000/€130,000) centre of excellence was finally opened today with the aim of revolutionising the game from grassroots to national level.
Football Association (FA) chairman David Bernstein described the official launch of the state-of-the-art St George’s Park at Burton-upon-Trent as a “historic” day for the English game.
The huge, sophisticated 330-acre complex will house all 24 England teams, from junior to senior levels, and focus on improving the quality of coaches, as well as raising the standard of players.
“We have to get more players through who can be full England internationals and this is where it will happen,” said Bernstein.
“So much work has gone into this for so long and to see it now is fantastic.
“It is a momentous day in our history.
“What has been achieved here is breathtaking.
“It is an inspirational training base for all our national teams and for coaches an Oxbridge of football.
“We expect to get a huge amount out of this, probably first and foremost the development of more and better coaches.
“We have good coaches in this country, but we need many, many more and this will be a centre driven to produce better coaching.”
The site was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (pictured top).
Prince William (pictured above), who is President of the FA, said: “Coming here and seeing these wonderful facilities gives me the same feeling as when I first went to the Olympic Park.
“It gives me great pride we have created in this country facilities that are beyond compare anywhere else.
“St George’s Park is a concept totally new.
“It will provide more than just world-class facilities for our national team and more than a university from which hundreds of coaches will graduate.
“It will provide employment and a social hub for local people and will foster community spirit and purpose and hope throughout England.”
England’s players are using the facility for the first time this week as they prepare for their World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland.
Among the facilities at St George’s Park (pictured below) are a senior training pitch, laid out to the exact dimensions of the playing surface at Wembley Stadium; 11 outdoor pitches, five of which are floodlit and have under-soil heating; altitude chamber; hotel complex; indoor 60-metre sprint track; and all manner of modern medicine and sports science units.
“This is the pinnacle clearly – and we hope that this will be an inspiration in a number of ways,” said Bernstein.
“One of the main objects of this, possibly almost the main object, is to produce thousands of more highly-qualified coaches.
“We want more skill-based football, kids to enjoy their football more.
“There’s a great deal aimed at that.”
England’s senior men’s team have not won a major international tournament since the 1966 FIFA World Cup, one of the reasons being the absence of an ongoing centre of excellence, such as those enjoyed in France, Spain and Italy.
David Sheepshanks, chairman of St George’s Park, said the new complex could help England close the gap on their rivals.
“We are investing in the teachers so that we can get ahead of what they are doing in France and Spain,” he said.
“It is the investment in coaches that is crucial and from 2020 onwards we will have winning England teams.
“Now is just the beginning.
“The full benefits will be seen in a decade or so.”
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