We are delighted to announce that at the Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council Planning Committee meeting held on Tuesday 12 May 2009, Stoke City Football Club have been granted conditional approval to proceed with the development of our new £5M training facility on the site of the former Michelin Athletic Club playing fields.

The application may still be called in by the Secretary of State during the next 21 days but should she choose not to exercise this power, we may proceed with the next phase of the development and look forward to commencing work on site later this summer as scheduled.

Stoke City Head of Development Richard Smith told stokecityfc.com: "This represents a major milestone in our future development.

Once completed, we will have training facilities to match our Premier League status and then have the capability to both attract and retain the best talent at the football club at all levels."

With regards to our proposals for the 'Windbreak' which had been proposed for the northwest corner of the Britannia Stadium, we have decided not to proceed with the project as Stoke City Council have refused advertisement consent. Advertising on the external face of the structure was a fundamental part of the project. It becomes commercially unviable without it due to our inability to earn any revenue from the structure.