Member Article

Council approves Newcastle United’s training ground plans

Newcastle United have received unanimous approval from North Tyneside councillors following the application to redevelop their Benton-based training ground.

NUFC first announced plans to redevelop the club’s 35-acre training ground site into a state-of-the-art training complex in November last year.

The club reported that the transformation would be a multi-million pound deal although they did not specify exactly how much would be invested into the project.

Council approval will allow United to persevere with their plans of beginning work in May 2015 which is projected to be completed in early 2016.

The club report that once work is completed the Magpies will occupy one of the finest training facilities of its kind in Europe.

Existing training pitches and a modern indoor training hall are to be retained although the club’s current Training Centre building will be demolished and replaced by a larger, high-tech structure.

This is will accommodate newly-designed changing, training, rehabilitation, medical, leisure and catering facilities and will also introduce the latest aquatic technology to the site, with a 20-metre swimming pool, a hydrotherapy and fitness pool and specialist equipment to aid injury prevention and recovery.

The new construction will also create a fitness centre double the size of the Club’s existing gymnasium, as well as administrative space, a presentation suite for match analysis and a new media suite.

The new training complex has been designed to fit within the club’s environmental policy, building on the Magpies’ reported achievement of becoming the world’s first carbon neutral football club in 2012.

The new eco-friendly building will be made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) sourced from sustainable forests and will produce its own energy from a combined heat and power (CHP) plant room.

Former Newcastle United director of football, Joe Kinnear, last year told the club’s website: “This is a hugely exciting development for Newcastle United.

“We have one of football’s great stadiums and we are delighted to now be announcing plans for a training complex which will rival any in Europe.

“Top players and top teams need top training and medical facilities.

“Our current training ground has served the Club very well but the new complex will give us all of the ingredients that we need to continue maintaining and enhancing the performance of elite footballers.

“It will also be an added attraction when we are looking to recruit players.”

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