Tweet
Burton might miss out as FA approve centre
By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:57am GMT 21/12/2007
Page 1 of 2
Have your say 
Read comments
The philosophical argument has been won; now the geographical debate begins. The case for the National Football Centre was accepted "unanimously" by the Football Association board yesterday; now the respective claims of its location in Burton-upon-Trent or close to the M25 intensify.
Football fans' forum
David Bond: Donor pledge by new FA chairman
Telegraph Talk: Henry Winter on FA approval for Football Centre FA dignitaries like the chief executive, Brian Barwick, want the NFC to be based at Burton, where the game's governors have already invested £20 million. Board members like David Sheepshanks passionately believe in the NFC but wonder whether Burton is the ideal setting. The key resolution yesterday was that the sceptics and supporters united behind an NFC; all that needs agreeing now is the postcode.
A question of venue: Burton is the preferred choiceIf the NFC is constructed on the 350-acre site already owned by the FA in Staffordshire the cost would be fractionally under £80 million; selecting a spot closer to Wembley would clearly raise the cost. If the FA's "preferred" option of Burton is eventually confirmed, England would have to travel down to a hotel near Wembley the night before internationals.
For all the discussions still to come over location, yesterday was undoubtedly a momentous day in the history of the England national side, not in the class of '66, of course, but hugely significant in beginning the rebuilding of a beloved, but sadly battered team.
The Three Lions had a blunt claw sharpened yesterday. Whether situated in Burton or Barnet, the NFC will assist the development of promising young footballers and coaches who, a decade hence, will deepen the reservoir of playing and managerial talent.
The NFC is not simply about players, not simply about corralling the leading teenagers from club academies and preparing them for the diverse rigours and rhythms of international football. As the French do. As the Italians do. As even the Romanians do with their impressive new NFC outside Bucharest.
The NFC is also about providing a hot-house for cultivating English coaches, so that the Premier League's leading clubs do not instinctively look overseas, or over Hadrian's Wall and Offa's Dyke, for their tracksuited tsars. Some home-grown coaching talent does rise up, like Paul Ince at MK Dons, or Gareth Southgate courtesy of a forward-thinking chairman in Middlesbrough's Steve Gibson, but there is currently no English manager in the league of Fabio Capello, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Rafa Benitez, David Moyes or Mark Hughes.
Rooney on Capello The NFC may educate coaches who, one day, will provide a Salford or Stratford alternative to managers from Aberdeen, Valencia or even Italian TV studios. Chairmen, let alone the FA, will not have to go on bended knee to coaching saviours from aboard.
Soho Square is enjoying a good week. First they appoint an outstanding England manager in Capello, and yesterday they set in motion a process that will eventually preclude the need for Italians managing the England team. "Approval was granted subject to a detailed exploration of the business and funding plans," said an FA spokesman. Yesterday was a triumph for FA men who really care about England's fortunes, administrators like Barwick and Jonathan Hill, a persuasive communicator who made such a cogent pro-NFC presentation to the board meeting.
"I'm delighted that the board has given the green light for a National Football Centre," said Barwick. "This is a major step forward for the project.
"There was general agreement within the board that a National Football Centre would be a major asset in the development of players, coaches and referees in this country. It's a great day. The board unanimously approved the concept of an NFC. It is a real genuine green light. We look forward to getting it under way. Absolutely. It is an acceptance that it was time for an NFC, and we have got to be coaching coaches and coaching players. All the things an FA should be doing, we should do it.
Fantasy Football "Burton starts as our preferred option. We still have to do the work on Burton to make sure it is the right place. It is having a centre where football matters are discussed. We have Soho Square where we have offices. We have Wembley where we have a stadium. We want a place where there is green grass, footballers and coaches."
Barwick and Hill got their strategy right yesterday. It was clever thinking to hold the board meeting at Wokefield Park, a De Vere hotel near Reading, underlining the plan that such respected hoteliers (who already have links to the Reebok Stadium and the Madejski Stadium) will be involved in the NFC. It will be an FA facility, with 150 bedrooms and thankfully no golf course, but De Vere will provide the service management
By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:57am GMT 21/12/2007
Page 1 of 2
Have your say Read commentsThe philosophical argument has been won; now the geographical debate begins. The case for the National Football Centre was accepted "unanimously" by the Football Association board yesterday; now the respective claims of its location in Burton-upon-Trent or close to the M25 intensify.
Football fans' forum
David Bond: Donor pledge by new FA chairman
Telegraph Talk: Henry Winter on FA approval for Football Centre FA dignitaries like the chief executive, Brian Barwick, want the NFC to be based at Burton, where the game's governors have already invested £20 million. Board members like David Sheepshanks passionately believe in the NFC but wonder whether Burton is the ideal setting. The key resolution yesterday was that the sceptics and supporters united behind an NFC; all that needs agreeing now is the postcode.
A question of venue: Burton is the preferred choiceIf the NFC is constructed on the 350-acre site already owned by the FA in Staffordshire the cost would be fractionally under £80 million; selecting a spot closer to Wembley would clearly raise the cost. If the FA's "preferred" option of Burton is eventually confirmed, England would have to travel down to a hotel near Wembley the night before internationals.For all the discussions still to come over location, yesterday was undoubtedly a momentous day in the history of the England national side, not in the class of '66, of course, but hugely significant in beginning the rebuilding of a beloved, but sadly battered team.
The Three Lions had a blunt claw sharpened yesterday. Whether situated in Burton or Barnet, the NFC will assist the development of promising young footballers and coaches who, a decade hence, will deepen the reservoir of playing and managerial talent.
The NFC is not simply about players, not simply about corralling the leading teenagers from club academies and preparing them for the diverse rigours and rhythms of international football. As the French do. As the Italians do. As even the Romanians do with their impressive new NFC outside Bucharest.
The NFC is also about providing a hot-house for cultivating English coaches, so that the Premier League's leading clubs do not instinctively look overseas, or over Hadrian's Wall and Offa's Dyke, for their tracksuited tsars. Some home-grown coaching talent does rise up, like Paul Ince at MK Dons, or Gareth Southgate courtesy of a forward-thinking chairman in Middlesbrough's Steve Gibson, but there is currently no English manager in the league of Fabio Capello, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Rafa Benitez, David Moyes or Mark Hughes.
Rooney on Capello The NFC may educate coaches who, one day, will provide a Salford or Stratford alternative to managers from Aberdeen, Valencia or even Italian TV studios. Chairmen, let alone the FA, will not have to go on bended knee to coaching saviours from aboard.Soho Square is enjoying a good week. First they appoint an outstanding England manager in Capello, and yesterday they set in motion a process that will eventually preclude the need for Italians managing the England team. "Approval was granted subject to a detailed exploration of the business and funding plans," said an FA spokesman. Yesterday was a triumph for FA men who really care about England's fortunes, administrators like Barwick and Jonathan Hill, a persuasive communicator who made such a cogent pro-NFC presentation to the board meeting.
"I'm delighted that the board has given the green light for a National Football Centre," said Barwick. "This is a major step forward for the project.
"There was general agreement within the board that a National Football Centre would be a major asset in the development of players, coaches and referees in this country. It's a great day. The board unanimously approved the concept of an NFC. It is a real genuine green light. We look forward to getting it under way. Absolutely. It is an acceptance that it was time for an NFC, and we have got to be coaching coaches and coaching players. All the things an FA should be doing, we should do it.
Fantasy Football "Burton starts as our preferred option. We still have to do the work on Burton to make sure it is the right place. It is having a centre where football matters are discussed. We have Soho Square where we have offices. We have Wembley where we have a stadium. We want a place where there is green grass, footballers and coaches."Barwick and Hill got their strategy right yesterday. It was clever thinking to hold the board meeting at Wokefield Park, a De Vere hotel near Reading, underlining the plan that such respected hoteliers (who already have links to the Reebok Stadium and the Madejski Stadium) will be involved in the NFC. It will be an FA facility, with 150 bedrooms and thankfully no golf course, but De Vere will provide the service management