England’s Football Association (FA) announced on Thursday that building work on their long-awaited National Football Centre, St George’s Park, will begin in January.
“At Thursday’s November meeting The FA Board gave its full approval to the commencement of work on St George’s Park supported by Umbro, the new National Football Centre,” read a statement on the FA website.
“Building will start on the Burton-upon-Trent site in January 2011 and is due to be completed in the summer of 2012.”
The development has been in the pipeline since 2001, when the FA bought a 350-acre site in Burton-upon-Trent, central England.
The site will feature state-of-the-art training pitches, offices, accommodation and sports science facilities and will act as a hub for England’s various national football teams.
The much-delayed project is intended to bring England in line with other major European footballing nations such as Italy and France, which already boast national football centres.
Coaching standards in England have been a subject of debate since the national team failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and the English players’ technical limitations were cited as a key factor in Wednesday’s 2-1 friendly defeat by France at Wembley.
“St George’s Park will be a world class facility providing top class education for future generations of English football coaches,” said FA board member David Sheepshanks.
“Today’s decision means that we can open in 2012 and help to deliver the first exciting legacy of a golden summer for sport in this country.
“St George’s Park will be accessible to all, aspirational, educational, sustainable and iconic — a truly national centre for our national game, in the heart of England.”
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