New training centre for County

12 Aug 2020 10:48
Published by: Scott Callan

Stockport County have secured a three-year lease on a first team training centre as it looks to create its own football campus in the borough.

The Championship grade facilities in Carrington are being leased from Sale FC Rugby Club.

They include a large gym, players’ lounge, restaurant, recovery rooms, player briefing rooms, office space and three elite training pitches for the use of manager Jim Gannon and his team.

The Hatters have agreed to a three-year lease and invested in a refurbishment programme.

A club spokesman said: “The facility provides Stockport County with a vital short-term training solution, with a longer-term ambition to build new facilities in Stockport over the next three to four years.

“The club is currently working closely with Stockport Borough Council to identify possible sites to build a state-of-the-art Community Football Campus that will house the first team and academy teams alongside extensive community facilities that will support grassroots football and promote healthy lifestyles.”

Simon Wilson, County’s director of football, said the move was “a significant step for the Club and the result of a lot of hard work by a number of people to secure a training base that both meets our immediate need, and our future development.”

He added: “While Edgeley Park is very much the home of the Club, the training ground can be thought of as the home of the team as they will spend the majority of their time there. We know from studies that environment controls up to 80 per cent of human behaviour.

“While there has been an earnest quality and humbleness created from the use of rented facilities in the part time hybrid training model – that we never want to lose – the acquisition of a training ground gives us an opportunity to make a further upgrade in our all-round professionalism and give Jim and his team every opportunity to maximise the potential of our players.

“Longer-term we are excited about the ambition to build a training centre in Stockport to further establish the Club as a destination for grassroots football, nurturing the best local talent through our academy and educational programmes.

 “We believe in this group of players and staff to do great things for our football Club. But with high challenge you need to provide high support. 

“With this facility, Jim, his immediate support team, and further infrastructure developments we are making, we feel we are giving ourselves the best chance of being successful.”

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