Reading FC Purchase Land to Build New Training Ground

Reading FC are a step close in obtaining a new training ground after agreeing a deal with the Royal Merchant Navy School Foundation for the purchase of nearly 120 acres of land in Wokingham.

The site at Bearwood Estate will be the new home for both our first team and Academy, anesthetist and plans have already been drawn up for 15 pitches on site, capsule with purpose-built indoor facilities. The conditional contract will be finalised on the receipt of planning permission, illness and a full planning request will be submitted to Wokingham Borough Council in the near future.

We have been at our current Hogwood Park facility since 2004, and with the natural evolution of the club and our investment in the new EPPP structure for elite Academies, a new training ground is seen as a hugely positive step in the right direction.

The Club would like to thank the Foundation, and in particular Secretary Charles Heron-Watson, for their professionalism and assistance in getting the process to this stage. Both parties believe this is a very positive step for the club, the Foundation, our Academy and indeed the local community.

The Foundation said: “This sale will form a major part of the Trustees’ strategic decision to realise their substantial land holding by providing the funds necessary to focus on the Foundation’s charitable work, which is supporting the education of their beneficiaries in particular by helping them obtain employment.”