FOOTBALL CENTRE OF FOOTBALLING EXCELLENCE PLANS TO BE SUBMITTED FOR BURTON

25 January 2010

The designers of the national football centre (NFC) at Burton-on-Trent visited similar set-ups in France, Italy, Holland and Germany and will now be submitted for an associated hotel and office complex on the 330-acre site, with a target of mid-2012 for completion.

David Sheepshanks, chairman of the NFC - now renamed St George's Park - insisted that the funding issues that have dogged the Burton scheme since it was first launched in 2001 were close to being resolved but admitted there was still "a manageable gap".

A private housing scheme for 30 homes is part of the plan to plug that gap.

Sheepshanks said: "The funding process is at an advanced stage but we have to wait until the tendering of the hotel - we are down to a shortlist of four hoteliers, any one of which we would be happy to work with.

"For the balance we already have the majority of the funding in place, through sponsors Umbro, some grant funding and FA funding which was always pledged.

"We are left with a manageable gap and we have a number of initiatives in play.

"This cannot be a white elephant, it must be sustainable financially and there is a robust business plan that makes this viable and sustainable."