Tuesday, February 17, marked the first day of a new era at Stoke City as the Potters moved into their new elite training facility at Clayton Wood.
A process years in the making, with initial designs drawn up in 2023, the £10m development has now become the home of City’s first team following 15 months of construction led by contractors Speller Metcalfe.
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, a refurbishment of the existing building which will exclusively serve the Club’s Category One Academy and women’s team, will now commence.
The work will take the total investment in the Club’s training base since its acquisition above the £25m mark. The new first team facility alone already represents Stoke City’s biggest financial outlay on a single project since the building of the bet365 Stadium in 1997.
“This is a significant step for the football club and it fills me with great pride to see our new first team training facility in operation for the first time,” Chair John Coates said.
“Stoke City is my passion and I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure our players and staff have the best environment possible to make us successful.
“Clearly the facilities need to be matched by a culture of relentless hard work, which Jon Walters and Mark Robins continue to drive every day, in our long-term pursuit of being better than we have ever been before.”
Potters’ Vice-Chairman Richard Smith added: “It was a great feeling to see the excitement of players and staff as they moved into the new building this week.
“A lot of dedication has been required by many people to move this project forward at pace and I would like to thank our staff for their significant contribution to the development.
“As always seems to be the case here at Stoke City, thanks to John’s continued investment, our next projects start in earnest with the renovation of the existing pavilion and continued works at the bet365 Stadium.”