FA approves funding for £ 150 million St George’s Park facility
19 November 2010
The UK's governing body of football, the Football Association (FA), has approved funding for the £ 150 million (€ 176 million) St George's Park National Football Centre.
The FA board gave its full approval for building to kick off on the project in January 2011, with completion scheduled for 2012.
In a statement, FA board member and chairman of the National Football Centre board David Sheepshanks said the facility will be "world class".
The contractors for the project are yet to be announced.
"St George's Park will provide top class education for future generations of English football coaches. It will also be an internationally-leading sports medicine and performance research centre, a training home to enhance international team development, and an inspirational hub for everyone involved in football from the grassroots to elite," Mr Sheepshanks said.
St George's Park will be the hub to a workforce of 1400 FA coach educators, who in turn will train in the region of 250 thousand coaches by 2018.
"I believe this project will be transformational. From being the standout country without a national training centre, it enables England to set a new standard in coach education, sports medicine and research. It will effect a fundamental change in the way that football is taught and will help to transmit consistent values across game," FA general secretary Alex Horne said.
