TRAINING COMPLEX EXCLUSIVE

Friday 16 June 2006, 16:23

Everton chief executive Keith Wyness has revealed exclusively to the relaunched evertonfc.com that building work is now underway on the club's new training facility.

The new training base at Halewood on the outskirts of the city will be completed in time for the return to pre-season training ahead of the 2007/08 campaign.

The multi-million pound facility will be home to the Club's senior squad as well as the Everton Academy and will boast some of the finest training facilities in the world.

The New Academy

Making the training facility a reality was one of the CEO's top priorities when he arrived at Goodison in 2004 and he is delighted that David Moyes and his players will now be able to see progress being made on the building of the training ground.

Wyness told evertontv: "We are about to start work on the building work at the new Academy. We have been working over the last year on the pitches and they are now fully laid.

"We are hoping to be in the new Academy complex next year so we should be in there for the next off season and that is fantastic because we will have the first team and all the youth Academy on the same campus. That will make a big difference as it will also be one of the world's leading academies and will make a big difference in attracting young talent as well.

"It says a lot about where the Club is at right now. We really are pushing the Club forward, breaking the Club transfer record in two consecutive seasons and building this new Academy. When Bellefield was built in 1966 it was the leading facility of its type in the world.

Academy training complex

"Once again we are back into that situation and I do sense that as a Club we are on the next curve starting to go upwards and it is not through a lack of effort that we are going to get there."

The new complex will be home to 10 full-size grass pitches on three plateaus, one of which will be floodlit along with an additional floodlit synthetic pitch and specialist training areas for fitness work and goalkeepers.

Inside the training complex there will be extensive changing facilities for both the senior squad and the Academy players, a gym, a synthetic indoor training pitch, hydratherapy pools, a spa and sauna, physiotherapy rooms a media centre and video lounges including a video editing suite.

The state-of-the-art facilities on offer will make Everton a big draw for future signings and will also provide a boost in the development of the Club's Academy players.

Wyness continues: "Weather and construction permitting it will be ready for next summer. I do hope it is not a Wembley situation and I am sure it won't be.

"We have a great project, we will be very proud of it and I think all the fans will appreciate what this Academy can do for us.

Academy training complex

"It is so important to have everybody under one roof. There is a bit of a disconnect right now between the youth academy site at Netherton and the first team at Bellefield.

"It is important for those youngsters to rub shoulders with the senior players and see them in training and for the manager to be able to check on the young talent coming through, for communication between scouts and coaches and for everybody to be on the same page.

"It is one of the things identifed in almost the first week I was here and I am so pleased to see that now coming through.

"It is crucial for the future development on the playing side. Not just senior players, even when parents of young kids come to see this they will want to put their child in Everton. For everybody concerned it is very important to have the best environment.

We are up against some of the best clubs in the world now chasing some of the talent we are chasing so we have got to compete on the same page or even do something better and I think this time we are actually ahead of the game.

"It is good to finally be at the bricks and mortar stage and as the summer goes on I am sure we will see images of all the hard hats and JCbs as the work gets underway. It is a very exciting time and another major chapter in Everton's history."