Stoke City Football Club, Clayton Wood Training Ground, Rosetree Avenue, Trent Vale, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6NL
STOKE CITY'S prospects of nurturing home grown talent and attracting the best young players to the Club have been significantly improved by the £7,000,000 development of a state-of-the-art training centre at Clayton Wood.
As well as providing the First Team squad with the very best facilities, the Club's Academy is now based out of the complex and is also benefiting from a significant amount of other work being undertaken to maximise use of the site.
The first phase was completed for the start of the 2010/11 season with the two-storey, 1,800 sq metre building featuring nine changing rooms, a gymnasium, hydrotherapy suite, medical facilities, dining area and administrative offices.
Therefore, it provides the Academy scholars with the very best environment in which they can develop their football talents in the future.
A considerable amount of work has also gone into the development of the Academy pitches at Clayton Wood, while Phase Two of the development has involved the installation of floodlights on two pitches and a synthetic pitch as well.
"We wanted to create a training centre that takes us to the next level in terms of facilities and best represents the standards we are trying to achieve throughout the Club," said Richard Smith, Managing Director of Stoke City Property.
"The challenge was to develop a centre that looks impressive, but serves its purpose as a working environment seven days a week and we feel we have managed to achieve those objectives in terms of what we have created.
"Not only will it help us to retain our best players, it will also improve our chances of attracting new signings to strengthen the squad. We want them to think 'this is a place I want to come to' whether they are transfer targets for the first team squad or the youngsters and their parents who are looking at our Academy."
Looking further ahead, there are plans to develop an indoor pitch and put in a pitch irrigation system to give the Football Club facilities on one site that underpins the training requirements of both the First Team and the Academy.
DIRECTIONS
By Car
North/South/West: Exit the M6 at Junction 15 and take the second exit at the first roundabout (straight on) onto the A500. Exit the A500 onto the first slip road and turn left at the roundabout onto the A34. Take the first left onto Riverside Road and then the first left into Rosetree Avenue.
East: Travel past the Britannia Stadium on the A50 until the final roundabout. Take the first left and keep right, moving onto the A500. Exit the A500 onto the first slip road and take the third exit at the roundabout (right) onto the A34. Take the first left onto Riverside Road and then the first left into Rosetree Avenue.
By Train
Stoke-on-Trent station is situated on the West Coast Mainline and provides easy access from Manchester, Birmingham, Crewe, Derby and London. Clayton Wood is a five minute taxi ride from the station.
