Playford Road (training ground)
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| Location | Rushmere St Andrew, Ipswich |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°04′03″N 1°12′48″E / 52.067556°N 1.213289°E |
| Owner | Gamechanger 20 Limited |
| Type | Sports facility |
| Construction | |
| Built | c. 2001 |
| Opened | 2001 |
Playford Road, located near Rushmere St Andrew, Ipswich is the training ground of Ipswich Town Football Club.
History
[edit]Playford Road was officially opened in 2001. In addition to multiple pitches, the initial development of the training ground also included a dome housing an indoor pitch, with new buildings also being constructed including a canteen, players' lounge, parents' lounge, recreation room, classroom, changing rooms and office accommodation.[1]
In 2018, a new state of the art gym was installed at Playford Road. Further development work was done during 2019, with new improvements made to the medical facilities, including the installation of a £90k recovery suite, £100k was also spent on installing new fencing around the complex, as well as general up keeping work.[2]
Following the club's sale to US-based group Gamechanger 20 in April 2021, Playford Road also became property of the new owners. A small unused section of the ground remained under the ownership of Marcus Evans, where the EADT has reported he intends on building a new housing development.[3]
Facilities
[edit]The Playford Road complex includes a wide range of facilities for both the first-team and academy, including a gym, recovery suite, canteen, players' lounge, parents' lounge, recreation room, classroom, changing rooms and office accommodation. The training ground also includes 11 pitches of various specifications, including four full-size grass pitches, four medium-size grass pitches, one medium-size floodlit grass pitch, one full-size floodlit artificial 3G pitch and one indoor medium-size artificial 3G pitch, located within the dome.[1][2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Town open doors to new training centre". Ipswich Star. 16 October 2001. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ a b "'Parts of it were like a bomb site' – Lambert praises Evans for splashing the cash on 'horrendous' training ground". East Anglian Daily Times. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ "Gamechanger, Three Lions, pension funds and new faces - a bitesize guide to the Ipswich Town takeover". 7 April 2021.