Man City Starts Academy Build
Manchester City has confirmed that work is set to commence on the ground-breaking new City Football Academy, a state of the art youth development and first team training facility on an 80 acre site adjacent to the Etihad Stadium.
BAM Construction has been selected as the construction partner, and will begin work on the plot in the coming weeks, with the project due to be completed in time for the 2014/15 Premier League season.
The building of the Academy, which will provide a centre for up to 400 young players as well as housing the first team training base and the Club’s operations functions, follows four years of planning by City across five continents and more than 30 elite sport development centres.
The City Football Academy will include:
- A new Academy for up to 400 young players with classrooms for 200
- On site accommodation for junior and senior players
- 16.5 football pitches, 12 of them dedicated to players aged from 8 to 21
- A state of the art first team building with changing rooms, gym, refectory and injury and rehab centre
- A 7000 capacity stadium for youth matches
- Staff offices and a dedicated media centre
- A bridge linking the site to the Etihad Stadium and the rest of the Etihad Campus
City CEO Ferran Soriano, said: ‘Today is an extremely important day for the future of Manchester City Football Club. We are now in a position, after four years of research and planning, to execute that strategy and we are delighted to join with BAM who will play a large part in helping us to do so.’
The club has donated 5.5 acres of remediated land on the site for community use, and is also supporting the creation of education and leisure facilities for local residents.
The City Football Academy will also reach the highest possible environmental standards – the gold standard under L.E.E.D guidelines – with low carbon, low water and low waste measures being employed to minimise impact on the environment and encourage local bio-diversity.
