THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — Scarred by years of failure on the international stage, the English are following a path taken by some of their biggest rivals in a bid to regain their heavyweight status in football.
Prince William and his wife, Kate, officially opened England’s state-of-the-art national football centre on Tuesday, a 100 million pound ($160 million) facility that the country hopes will revive the flagging fortunes of football’s founder.
France and Spain became world champions a decade after building their national academies and England is targeting the same result by shifting its headquarters to St. George’s Park, a move described by the Football Association as a "landmark occasion for English football."
"People have asked me do we believe St. George’s Park will help England win the World Cup? The answer, categorically, is yes," said David Sheepshanks, chairman of the centre and the former head of England’s Football League. "I think we will generate more Lionel Messis and Cristiano Ronaldos in years to come."
"This place is a place to inspire young people and young coaches," Sheepshanks said Tuesday. "We are investing in the teachers so that we can get ahead of what they are doing in France and Spain."
The centre, which has been in use for several weeks by younger age groups, was sampled by England’s senior men’s team for the first time on Monday ahead of World Cup qualifiers against San Marino on Friday and Poland four days later. William and Kate watched players train at the facility’s official opening on Tuesday, before speaking to captain Steven Gerrard, coach Roy Hodgson and FA chairman David Bernstein and being greeted by the squad.
Based in Burton-upon-Trent — a sleepy town more than 100 miles from London and located amid the rolling countryside in the county of Staffordshire, central England — it will be the permanent base for all 24 of England teams as well as a training centre for coaches and a centre of excellence for sports science and medicine.
One of the 11 outside pitches on the 330-acre site is a replica of that used at Wembley Stadium, where England plays its home matches, with exactly the same mix of grass and artificial fibers. There is also a full-size indoor 3G surface, an indoor 60-meter sprint track, reflex machines for goalkeepers, a high-wire course and a suite of rehabilitation and sports science areas.
England squads will be accommodated in a Hilton hotel, where players will have their own private dining area and games room.
"This is the pinnacle clearly," Bernstein said, "and we hope that this will be an inspiration in a number of ways."
Facilities were developed after extensive research into similar centres around the world, including Clairefontaine — the world-famous headquarters of French football — Spain’s Cuidad del Futbol near Madrid, the Aspire Academy in Qatar and the Australian Institute of Sport.
The idea for the centre was first mooted in 1975 — but 37 years later, it has finally come to fruition.
"It has been a long-term ambition to have a national football centre and this is the best I have seen," said former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, who is now an assistant under Hodgson. "The quality of the facility and the scale of it is absolutely wonderful."
England’s only success on the international stage came at the 1966 World Cup on home soil and its record in recent years has been disappointing, never making it past the quarterfinals of a major tournament since Euro 1996 — which was also held in England.
England is currently fifth in the FIFA rankings but the team is no longer regarded as a heavyweight of the international game, with players’ inability to keep possession seen as the main reason for its decline.
"We’re trying to move young players away from this physical side, of wanting to win too much when they’re too young," Bernstein said. "We want more skill-based football, kids to enjoy their football more. There’s a great deal aimed at that."