Leicester to move into new training ground as dream becomes reality

LEICESTER CITY will train at their new £95m training ground in Seagrave for the the first time on Christmas Eve.

The 180-acre site has been under construction since Spring 2019 and will be home to the men’s first team and Academy. The club have described it as the best training facility in Europe. It features:

• 14 full-sized pitches (21 playing surfaces in total)
  
• 499-seater floodlit show pitch
  
• The Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Building – the training, medical and administrative hub for the first team and Academy
  
• ‘Elite-standard’ sports science and medical facilities
  
• Gym and hydrotherapy facilities
  
• The King Power Centre, housing an indoor pitch and media centre
  
• Sports Turf Academy for the education and development of ‘industry-leading grounds staff’
  
• Private nine-hole golf course

Belvoir Drive, which has been Leicester City’s training ground for almost 60 years, will now become home to Leicester Women from the start of 2021. The women’s team was acquired by the club in August and turned professional in the summer.

Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said: “The club has taken some enormous strides forward in the last 10 years. In terms of our long-term future, this is perhaps the biggest.

“A new training ground has been a dream many years in the making, so it is with great pride that we have been able to deliver this. Seagrave will be a pivotal part of the club’s operation for generations to come.

“Of all the investments we have made in the club, this has been our most significant. It is an investment in our players of today and our players of tomorrow, putting some of the very best facilities in the world at the heart of their everyday environment.

“It elevates the club’s offering to its players and staff to an entirely new level and is a key component in making our progress of recent years sustainable.

“Belvoir Drive has served the club wonderfully and been a spiritual home for Leicester City teams through several generations. For it to become the home of LCFC Women is a fine legacy for an historic location.

“The investments we have made in the last 10 years have made it an outstanding, professional training ground from which their considerable development can continue.”

The centrepoints of the new training facility are:

The primary hub of the Seagrave site, the building is named after the club’s late chairman and owner. The building includes offices, private accommodation, restaurant and first-team recreation facilities. Balconies overlook the first team training pitches.

The King Power Centre is the site’s most prominent structure. Its dome, built into the landscape, houses an air-conditioned, artificial pitch and a media centre, including press conference room, broadcast facilities and hospitality space.

A 499-seater show pitch for use for selected FA Youth Cup, Premier League 2 and Women’s matches, serviced by changing facilities and broadcast compound.

A 'first-of-its-kind' facility for the education and development of elite grounds staff and grounds services. The Sports Turf Academy will aim to train future generations of grounds professionals 'for deployment in sporting settings around the world', while creating a research and development hub for innovations in turf management.