Trafford Training Centre
| Carrington | |
|---|---|
 Trafford Training Centre from the air |
|
| Location | Carrington Greater Manchester |
| Coordinates | 53°25′04″N 02°22′30″W / 53.41778°N 2.37500°WCoordinates: 53°25′04″N 02°22′30″W / 53.41778°N 2.37500°W |
| Type | Sports facility |
| Built | 1999 |
| Opened | 2000 |
| Owner | Manchester United F.C. |
The Trafford Training Centre, often referred to simply as Carrington, is the training ground and Academy base of English football club Manchester United. It is located in the village of Carrington in Greater Manchester. The main building was officially opened on 26 July 2000, six months after the first team's first training session at the complex,[1] followed in 2002 by the Academy building, home to Manchester United's youth teams. The centre replaced The Cliff as the club's training ground.
Inside the complex, there are training and rehabilitation areas, physiotherapy and massage rooms, and remedial and hydrotherapy pools. There are also squash and basketball courts, a sauna, steam and weight rooms, a restaurant, conference rooms, offices, classrooms, and a TV studio to interview players and staff for MUTV. On the grounds, there are 14 football pitches of varying sizes, and two lagoons which are used as part of the waste water treatment system.[2] The media have dubbed the centre "Fortress Carrington",[3] due to the 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) of fencing and 30,000 trees surrounding it, in order to prevent members of the media and opposition spies from viewing team tactics for upcoming matches.
The site covers a total area of 108 acres (0.44 km2), of which 71 are used by the club. The remaining land is rented to local farmers, and includes a small nature reserve, maintained by the club and the Cheshire Wildlife Trust. The complex is not connected to main sewers and as such has its own sewage system.[2]
The centre is managed by seven Group Property Services (GPS) staff: three in the Academy building and four in the main building.[2]
In April 2013, Manchester United agreed an eight-year naming rights agreement with Aon that would see the Trafford Training Centre renamed as the Aon Training Complex.[4] The deal has been estimated to be worth around £120 million or £15 million a year.[5]
References
- ^ White, John D. T. (29 May 2008). "January". The Official Manchester United Almanac (1st ed.). London: Orion Books. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-7528-9192-7.
- ^ a b c "Meet... the Carrington crew". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). 7 July 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ "Rare glimpse of secret world of Manchester United". Belfast Telegraph. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ "Aon signs 8-year deal". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). 8 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ Bond, David (7 April 2013). "Manchester United agree £120m training ground deal". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- "Building the Foundations". United - the Official Magazine of Manchester United (Manchester: Future Publishing) (150): pp.62–65. February 2005.
External links
- Carrington Training Centre at ManUtdZone.com
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
