The Football Association have announced huge new plans for England’s training ground, St George’s Park.
Based in Burton-upon-Trent, the state of the art training centre is set to receive ‘significant investment’ in a project that will last three years.
The facility was built in 2012 for £105million and is home to all of England football – women’s, men’s, youth and para teams.
It can hold 23 teams at the Staffordshire base with 14 outdoor pitches, a replica of the Wembley surface, a full size Indoor 3G pitch and a futsal arena.
Performance and recovery facilities also feature, along with a 228-room Hilton hotel.
According to the FA, their plans for refurbishment “will create a reimagined performance home to inspire and enable England’s players, teams and coaches to be the best in the world”.
Starting with the pitches, it states: “All England team pitch surfaces will be upgraded to improve wet weather playability, with pitchside hub buildings, screens, and landscaping to maximise training effectiveness during international camps. Performance and recovery
facilities will also be upgraded.
Secondly, its focus is player and coach expectations in a bid to ‘modernise’ the site.
The FA said: “Modernisation of hotel bedrooms and communal spaces to better fit team’s needs, plus installation of permanent downtime activities.
“Inclusive design of all new and upgraded spaces, plus adding new features to maximise SGP’s accessibility for elite talent.
‘Football innovation’ is the final pillar, with the FA adding: “Inspirational learning and meeting rooms that encourage creativity in everyone’s daily work, together with bespoke areas and technology for performance innovation by our coaches, staff and external partners.
Dubbed as ‘SGP 2.0’, the project aligns with hosting a home men’s European Championship in 2028.
FA men’s technical director John McDermott said: “With the honour of hosting a home Euros on the horizon alongside other exciting pathway activities, SGP 2.0 will level up our capacity to
deliver an elite experience for players and to give ourselves every possible chance for success.
Work began on the upgrades last year, including revamping team briefing rooms and a modernisation of the Club England space within the on-side Hilton.
The FA says the refurbishment is scheduled to finish in 2028. were made to the site in 2024 including revamped team briefing rooms and a modernisation of the Club England space within the on–site Hilton hotel. Work will continue in early 2025 and be completed in phases through to 2028.