FOOTBALL


O


n a very wet and windy day on the Fylde coast, I’m on my way to Fleetwood Town Football Club to look around their new £8m training base at Poolfoot


Farm, a state-of-the-art sports and leisure village, in Thornton Cleveleys. I met up with Head Groundsman Nick Hyndman, behind the training ground at the impressive purpose-built groundsman’s shed, which includes an office, brew room, toilets and shower. Before we look around the facility, we decide to sit down in the office and have a brew and a chat hoping the rain will ease off before we go out. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen at any point that day so, once my tour of the training facility was over, myself and Nick were soaked to the bone.


The training ground was officially opened on Wednesday 20th April 2016, by Sir Alex Ferguson. The main building has a fully fitted gym, fitness studio, physiotherapy suite, dedicated classrooms, meeting rooms, a top-quality bar and restaurant, seven changing rooms, offices, reception and club shop.


Outside there are Elite pitches One and Two. These are a Fibresand construction, with an automated pop-up irrigation system, and are used only by the first team. Pitch Three is a goalkeeper area (drained and sand slit). Pitches Four and Five is one divided eleven-a-side pitch used for under 18s and 23s (drained and sand slit). Pitch Six is a five-a-side grass pitch, mainly used as a warm-up area (drained and sand slit). Pitch Seven is a seven-a-side grass


pitch used by the academy (drained and top drained.) Pitches Eight and Nine are eleven a-side pitches used by the academy (drained, no secondary drainage). 3G pitches - two eleven-a-side and four five-a-side pitches (named Highbury, San Siro, Nou Camp and Bernabeau) complete the pitch line-up. The facility is also open to the community, with hundreds of local children having already enjoyed the use of the 3G pitches, be that local junior clubs, schools or other organisations. The club hopes the new facilities will help persuade talented young local players to develop their skills closer to home. The first team play their home games at Highbury Stadium, which has a capacity of 5327. Nick explains the pitch construction;


PC February/March 2019


71


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