Newcastle chief confirms plan to build ’10/10′ training ground – “A very big investment”

In one of many interviews with the local media this week, CEO David Hopkinson has spoken openly and honestly about our current training ground and our plans moving forward.

He accepts the current site ticks a box for now and ‘gets the job done’ after recent improvements, but doesn’t do enough to help attract ‘world-class talent.’

The Canadian believes it’s currently a 7/10 and could reach an 8/10 with more renovation work. However, he doesn’t see the potential for our Benton base to become a ’10’.

With that in mind, Hopkinson has confirmed that the club are now in the process of planning a brand new, 10/10 training ground, featuring “very big investment” that our PIF owners appear ready to get behind.

“When you look at the facility you have today, it’s probably a seven out of 10. It gets the job done.

“I don’t think we have a lot of world-class talent that say: ‘I want to stay here because of the training ground’ or ‘I want to go to Newcastle because of the training ground’.

“Even with the renovation we’re doing, which will make it better, we probably only get to an eight. We don’t get to a 10.

“We can’t get to a 10 on the current footprint, which is the reason why we’re considering – not considering, planning – a very big investment to go and build a 10.”

Hopkinson discussed the ‘arms race’ across football, particularly in the Premier League, for top class training facility.

While Newcastle have a top manager, one of the top six playing squads in the league, St James’ Park, a loyal fanbase and ambitious owners in PIF, our training ground is light years behind some in the top flight; and even well below that of Leicester City’s in the Championship.

That has to change, as our CEO explains below based on the competition and growing expectations of a modern footballer:

“If you look at the arms race that training grounds have become – in the Premier League, in football, in North American sports – the players are spending an inordinate amount of time there and the expectations have changed and evolved.

“From simply where we train to: ‘Yeah, that’s where I drop the kids off because they’re being babysat while I’m training’ or ‘This is where the car is being looked after’ and ‘This is where I get my haircut’.

“This is what’s happened in North American sports, and now there are changing expectations here too of what players are going to want in order to choose to come here or stay. Those are the investments we’re going to have to make to get to a world-class level.”