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Stoke City reveals training ground plans
Stoke City Football Club (SCFC) has unveiled plans for a new £5m training facility at the Michelin Sports Ground at Trent Vale in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire.
Proposals for the redevelopment of the club's current training ground are due to be submitted to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council next month. The scheme includes the construction of a new two-storey, 1,800sq m (19,375sq ft) building, which will accommodate changing rooms, medical facilities, a hydrotherapy pool and a gymnasium, as well as a kitchen and refectory area and office facilities incorporating a media suite.
In addition, two full-size football pitches, which will be used by SCFC's first team and academy, will form part of the new development, while long-term plans are also in place for a floodlit pitch and an all-weather outdoor playing surface. SCFC chair, Peter Coates, said: "We have always wanted to develop a high quality training facility which would be owned by the club and which would serve both the first team players and the academy.
"It will enable us to compete and attract the best players and that applies equally to the young academy players. It will mean that we can offer the best training, coaching and fitness facilities, all of which will bring many benefits to the club." Richard Smith, the club's head of development, added: "We have instructed AFL Architects to design the complex for us as we felt it had the appropriate track record and experience for a project of this nature."
AFL Architects has previously worked on facilities at Chelsea Football Club and Everton Football Club.