Stoke City given green light for £12m training ground redevelopment

Stoke City have announced they will start work on a £10m to £12m redevelopment of their Clayton Wood training ground in September, with the project scheduled to be completed within a year.

The new “state-of-the-art” building will create elite facilities for the men’s first-team squad. In turn, the existing pavilion will be renovated and used exclusively by the club’s Category One Academy and women’s team.

The new first-team building will increase the scale and quality of the performance, recovery, rehabilitation, gym, nutrition and sports science facilities available to Potters’ players.

The work will represent Stoke City’s biggest financial outlay on a single project since the building of their bet365 Stadium in 1997. It will take the total investment in the club’s training base since its acquisition above £25m.

Vice-Chairman Richard Smith said: “This development is massive for Stoke City, both in terms of scope and importance. Once complete, it will elevate our first-team facilities to among the best in the Championship and make them fit for Premier League football.

“Also, no sooner has the new facility at Clayton Wood been opened, a refurbishment of the current building will begin, making it a suitably elite home for our ambitious women’s team and Academy, meaning the benefit will be felt across our club.”

Planning permission has already been granted by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, meaning work on the development can begin in September following the appointment of a building contractor.