TOP TEAM
ST GEORGE’S PARK B
The Football Association has been trying for 35 years to create a national football centre. With the launch imminent, Kath Hudson talks to some of the people that have made this dream a realty
ack in 1996, when the Euro- pean Championships were held in London, we were all singing about football com-
ing home. It almost did, but then it went away again, further than before. We’re all desperate for England to
win an international championship: according to the Football Association (FA) more than half the population – 28 million of us – watch England’s major international matches. But if you look at the facts it’s not surprising this isn’t happening. England has a fraction of the
coaches that Germany, Italy, Spain and France have: 10 per cent of UEFA B coaches, 16 per cent of UEFA A
coaches and 12 per cent of UEFA Pro coaches. Only four managers in the Pre- mier League are English and every other country that has won the FIFA World Cup, or UEFA European Championships, has a dedicated national training centre. England has a long footballing history,
with seven million participants, and we believe we should be champions, however, there has been a yawning gap in the infrastructure. There has been no hub for communicating and enforcing the FA coaching philosophy and messag- es and a nomadic, ineffective approach to coach education. This, however, is all set to change.
The finishing touches are now being put to the national football centre in South
Derbyshire. Symbolically named St George’s Park, it is set to open its doors in late summer. All of those involved are bristling
with pride and excitement. This is set to revolutionise the game – it may take a couple of generations, but the coaches that this centre will turn out will go forth and create thousands of composed, creative, technically bril- liant, decision-making young players. The educational side will be backed
up by a world-class centre for sports medicine and research and some of the best sporting facilities in the world, with every type of football pitch recreated. Back of the net!
28 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
Issue 2 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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