FA’s New National Football Centre ‘statement of Intent’ for English Football

David Sheepshanks, the chairman of England’s new St George’s Park national football centre in Burton, claims the site’s completion has sent a message of intent to the rest of the world.

England teams, starting with the under-17s next month, can now begin using the £100million facility on the 330-acre site at Burton-upon-Trent.

The Football Association (FA) devoted months to researching best practice in various sports around the globe, but now Sheepshanks hopes they will become the reference point for other nations.

“Hopefully the rest of the world will see this as a statement of intent by English football, which we will go on seeking to improve,” he said.

“It is a nerve-centre, a think-tank. I could almost say, if I was allowed to, a Mecca.

“It is a meeting point for the game, a congregating nerve centre where it doesn’t matter whether you are coaches, chief execs, physios, commercial directors, nutritionists – it is a place where the game can come together.

“We will welcome anyone who wants to come and we will be listening.

“One of the reasons we got here is because we listened to what everyone else told us, and we will go on listening because the day you think you have got to the top of the mountain is the day you start going down it.”