Stoke move into new £10m training facility and aim for ‘next level’

The new building includes new and improved performance, recovery, rehabilitation, gymnasium, nutrition and sports science facilities, including a cryotherapy chamber and hydrotherapy pool.

The second phase of the Clayton Wood development will now commence and will involve refurbishment of the old first team training facility, which will become home to the club’s Category One Academy and  Stoke City Women.

Robins said: “It is awesome, awesome. I said before that it’s good, but actually living in there is outstanding. Everything is new and shiny and all of those things but it comes with strings attached.

“You don’t just spend £10m on a facility at a training ground that’s already got a hugely impressive building in the first instance. The investment has been made to try to take us to a different level. It is an elite building, an elite environment.

“We’ve got a hydrotherapy pool with treadmills. For any injured players – and, to be fair, we’ve got too many of those and hopefully they will be obsolete – we’ve got lots of lots of things that help recovery of players who aren’t on the grass yet, plus injury prevention as well.

“The whole flow of the thing is good. It gives you a chance to have your recovery protocols and rehab and prehab protocols and the gymnasium is really good, on two levels, and it overlooks the pitches.

“When we’ve been out training on the pitches we’ve seen one or two looking out from there which promotes the desire to get back and hopefully stimulates them to recover quicker.

“Obviously you don’t want people to feel comfortable. It’s got to be a challenging environment as well and that’s something that comes from within but as part of a culture. That’s something we’ve been trying to establish and will continue to enforce, with what happens out on the grass and probably between your ears.