An AI-generate image of what Newcastle United's new training ground could look like.placeholder image
An AI-generate image of what Newcastle United's new training ground could look like. | Grok
Newcastle United are reportedly close to announcing state-of-the-art plans for a new £200million training ground.
Newcastle United are close to announcing seismic training ground plans that will catapult the club onto the global stage.
That is according to the Daily Mail, which revealed yesterday that a deal looks close for the Magpies to acquire the Woolsington Hall site. While not directly benefiting the fans, a state-of-the-art training centre would be viewed as a statement of intent by the club’s ownership.
Newcastle have been centred at the current Benton base since 2003 but the consensus is that the hub now lags significantly behind its Premier League counterparts. It is estimated that the project will cost £200million - signalling PIF’s long-term commitment to the Magpies.
Woolsington Hall details and features
Woolsington’s location on the outskirts of Newcastle is ideal for players and staff. A five-minute commute from the nearby Darras Hall - where many of the squad live - is ideal compared to Benton.
Newcastle airport - which the club use regularly to travel to away games domestically and in Europe - is also on the doorstep. Former Toon owner Sir John Hall bought the plot in 1994 and previous attempts to build football-related infrastructure have fallen flat.
In 2013, the gates to St James’ Park were removed from the site, restored and reinstalled on Barrack Road outside the stadium. Woolsington Hall has long been mooted as a potential location for a new ground but the preference is to stay in the city centre.
New training ground features
While improvements have been made to the Benton site, Newcastle trail their Premier League rivals in the training ground department. That looks set to change - and the new facilities will be “world class” as the club aims to take on the elite.
NewcastleWorld understands the lack of movement on the new training ground had become a source of frustration for some first-team players. However, an ultra-modern, trailblazing development would provide Toon chiefs with a new weapon when attempting to attract top talent.
The Daily Mail article reports that US-based Populous are the key architects behind the project, with Tyneside firm FaulknerBrown also involved. Likely features include indoor and outdoor pitches, a mini stadium, accommodation, a media suite, cinema room and spa-like facilities.
David Hopkinson on Newcastle United training ground plans
Speaking to supporters at an event last month, new Toon CEO David Hopkinson explained how a new training ground must become an all-encompassing venue for the players. He said: "When you look at the facility you have today, it's probably a seven out of 10. It gets the job done. I don't think we have a lot of world-class talent that say, 'I want to stay here because of the training ground' or 'I want to go to Newcastle because of the training ground'.
"Even with the renovation we're doing, which will make it better, we probably only get to an eight. We don't get to a 10. We can't get to a 10 on the current footprint, which is the reason why we're considering - not considering, planning - a very big investment to go and build a 10.
"If you look at the arms race that training grounds have become - in the Premier League, in football, in North American sports - the players are spending an inordinate amount of time there and the expectations have changed and evolved from simply where we train to: 'Yeah, that's where I drop the kids off because they're being babysat while I'm training' or 'This is where the car is being looked after' and 'This is where I get my haircut'.
"This is what's happened in North American sports, and now there are changing expectations here too of what players are going to want in order to choose to come here or stay. Those are the investments we're going to have to make to get to a world-class level."
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