Post by GresleyRam©®™ on Sept 27, 2007 8:02:23 GMT -1
FA CENTRE HEADING FOR GOAL
by TOM SLOAN
THE £50 million National Football Centre near Burton will soon be completed after FA bosses gave the scheme the green light.
Members of the organisation's board voted to finally finish the Byrkley Lodge centre, in Rangemore, following five years of indecision.
The spiralling cost of the new Wembley Stadium put the brakes on the centre, which will act as a permanent base for England's stars at all levels.
It was eventually approved in a watered down form costing less than the £80 million scheme originally envisaged, with several aspects of the development such as accommodation blocks, media centres and sports science clinics having been scrapped.
However, FA bosses then mothballed the development altogether due to a lack of funds and since then, the only footballers to regularly use its facilities have been Burton Albion's players, who train at the site, and the club's youth development squad, who play their fixtures there.
It has been speculated that the centre could have been sold off to an unnamed Midlands club - thought to be Aston Villa - for use as a training ground, while David Beckham was even linked with the site at one stage, as a possible Midlands base for his football school business.
Now, however, due to an improvement in the FA's finances following the opening of the new Wembley, the centre -which has cost £25 million to develop so far - will be completed following an agreement in a meeting on Monday.
Sir Trevor Brooking, who has championed Rangemore from his position as the FA's director of football development, said: "It has been at a standstill for the last two or three years and a series of options are being worked on.
"It has been frustrating for quite a few people, and it would be a wonderful site to work from."
There is still opposition to the centre from some Premier League clubs, who are concerned it could rival their own academies, but the FA is pressing on regardless.
Howard Wilkinson, the League Managers' Association chairman and former caretaker boss of England, hopes the centre will allow English talent to flourish.
The former Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday boss - who has championed the development since its inception - said: "The centre was meant to be the headquarters of the development side of the FA, and we need it if we are to check the current trend in importing foreign players.
"How can we bid for a World Cup when we don't have a National Football Centre where the national teams can train?
"How can we claim to be the organisation that will change the face of this sport when we have people working as nomads?
"The National Football Centre was not intended to be a replacement for club academies - that is misinformation spread by who knows who."
When first proposed, the centre was modelled on the French Clairefontaine academy, which produced the bulk of the sides which won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championships - and who were still around to reach the 2006 World Cup final.
Players such as Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira all benefited from training at the French academy.
taken from the burton mail yesterday!!
Not before time either!! Its going to be a fantastic facility for all the england set-ups and can only help develop our young talent in this country!!
plus, i doubt very much that a certain derby fan who lives 5 miles away from the site will ever pop down to get autographed memorabilia to sell for extortionate prices on EBAY
by TOM SLOAN
THE £50 million National Football Centre near Burton will soon be completed after FA bosses gave the scheme the green light.
Members of the organisation's board voted to finally finish the Byrkley Lodge centre, in Rangemore, following five years of indecision.
The spiralling cost of the new Wembley Stadium put the brakes on the centre, which will act as a permanent base for England's stars at all levels.
It was eventually approved in a watered down form costing less than the £80 million scheme originally envisaged, with several aspects of the development such as accommodation blocks, media centres and sports science clinics having been scrapped.
However, FA bosses then mothballed the development altogether due to a lack of funds and since then, the only footballers to regularly use its facilities have been Burton Albion's players, who train at the site, and the club's youth development squad, who play their fixtures there.
It has been speculated that the centre could have been sold off to an unnamed Midlands club - thought to be Aston Villa - for use as a training ground, while David Beckham was even linked with the site at one stage, as a possible Midlands base for his football school business.
Now, however, due to an improvement in the FA's finances following the opening of the new Wembley, the centre -which has cost £25 million to develop so far - will be completed following an agreement in a meeting on Monday.
Sir Trevor Brooking, who has championed Rangemore from his position as the FA's director of football development, said: "It has been at a standstill for the last two or three years and a series of options are being worked on.
"It has been frustrating for quite a few people, and it would be a wonderful site to work from."
There is still opposition to the centre from some Premier League clubs, who are concerned it could rival their own academies, but the FA is pressing on regardless.
Howard Wilkinson, the League Managers' Association chairman and former caretaker boss of England, hopes the centre will allow English talent to flourish.
The former Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday boss - who has championed the development since its inception - said: "The centre was meant to be the headquarters of the development side of the FA, and we need it if we are to check the current trend in importing foreign players.
"How can we bid for a World Cup when we don't have a National Football Centre where the national teams can train?
"How can we claim to be the organisation that will change the face of this sport when we have people working as nomads?
"The National Football Centre was not intended to be a replacement for club academies - that is misinformation spread by who knows who."
When first proposed, the centre was modelled on the French Clairefontaine academy, which produced the bulk of the sides which won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championships - and who were still around to reach the 2006 World Cup final.
Players such as Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira all benefited from training at the French academy.
taken from the burton mail yesterday!!
Not before time either!! Its going to be a fantastic facility for all the england set-ups and can only help develop our young talent in this country!!
plus, i doubt very much that a certain derby fan who lives 5 miles away from the site will ever pop down to get autographed memorabilia to sell for extortionate prices on EBAY
