New Training Ground

On a post yesterday, from Youngy I believe, the question was where do Barrow train. I believe this was all brought, in various posts, about by the distance we are from anywhere to attract any sort of decent new blood.

The new Barrow training ground is near Knutsford Ideally placed to attract players from the Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham areas. They only have to travel to Barrow itself on match days, as do a Russian club who train in Moscow and fly into and out of a Siberian town on match days.

Would it be good idea to relocate the training ground to the end of the M180 / M18 so that travelling to train would not be a problem in attracting new signings for us. I would also mention that this could be financed by the sale of Cheapside for housing; about 10/15 properties @ £100k per plot , £1 - £1 1/2 million.

Yes, in a word. I've said this before - without straying too far into Scunny territory a training ground at, say, Barnetby Top would shave thirty to forty minutes off the commute to anyone coming from South or West Yorkshire for instance. That has to be more attractive.

I don't think we need to go to the extreme of a training ground on the edge of Doncaster, but a modern training ground with good facilities (inside and out) off the A180 at either Brocklesby interchange or Stallingborough interchange would make a huge difference in attracting players.

Cheapside being a dump and being in a difficult place to reach from the main road (A180) into the area does affect player recruitment.

Yes setting up a training ground in/near doncaster would be ideal. Very central as far as travelling is concerned

You could buy Scunny for 1/2 million..

Quoted from MarshMariner

You could buy Scunny for 1/2 million..

That much

Lincoln City chose the A15 opposite RAF Scampton as a training ground base ahead of other possible locations (A46 near Swinderby and A158 near North Greetwell) because it is ideally located for players travelling from the north (straight down the A15 from the M180).

Where did they train yesterday as cheapside was waterlogged? It looked like they were on astro turf in a fenced in area.

Quoted from DB

The new Barrow training ground is near Knutsford Ideally placed to attract players from the Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham areas. They only have to travel to Barrow itself on match days, as do a Russian club who train in Moscow and fly into and out of a Siberian town on match days.

Good points

Personally, I’d rather live in the Lake District or Arnside / Silverdale than Knutsford but, then again, I’m not a 20 year old footballer with seed to spread like a Dairylea triangle

Very sensible idea.

Questions were raised around the ownership of Cheapside when May expressed his grubby intentions around building a new training facility, which I think we all instantly thought would be related to selling Cheapside for a huge profit.

If (and I don't know if we do) we do own Cheapside, we're potentially sitting on a goldmine there.  It's prime location but is a hinderance to our purposes as a training ground.  As others have said the location is absolutely crap for attracting players.  Unless we're attracting players from Louth it's arguably the least accessible part of North East Lincolnshire for anyone to come to.  As someone who goes up and down the M/A180 more times than I would like to, even the sound of the bloody road once you get past Barnetby Top would be enough to put me off.

In an ideal situation all our players would live within 10 miles of the ground and training set-up, but the game doesn't work like that anymore.  Even at the very highest level, players don't live close to their training grounds.  A lot of London teams actively sought out training grounds in the Home Counties to reflect the fact that it would be more convenient for their players, the vast majority of whom wouldn't live in the city itself.

Definitely something worth exploring that's for certain.  

Quoted from diehardmariner

Very sensible idea.

Questions were raised around the ownership of Cheapside when May expressed his grubby intentions around building a new training facility, which I think we all instantly thought would be related to selling Cheapside for a huge profit.

If (and I don't know if we do) we do own Cheapside, we're potentially sitting on a goldmine there.  It's prime location but is a hinderance to our purposes as a training ground.  As others have said the location is absolutely crap for attracting players.  Unless we're attracting players from Louth it's arguably the least accessible part of North East Lincolnshire for anyone to come to.  As someone who goes up and down the M/A180 more times than I would like to, even the sound of the bloody road once you get past Barnetby Top would be enough to put me off.

In an ideal situation all our players would live within 10 miles of the ground and training set-up, but the game doesn't work like that anymore.  Even at the very highest level, players don't live close to their training grounds.  A lot of London teams actively sought out training grounds in the Home Counties to reflect the fact that it would be more convenient for their players, the vast majority of whom wouldn't live in the city itself.

Definitely something worth exploring that's for certain.  

As far as I am aware the Club Lease Cheapside on a long term lease from the land owner.
The location is not best for all sorts of reasons and I have never understood why the club has never looked at buying land and developing their own modern facility,

Quoted from DB

On a post yesterday, from Youngy I believe, the question was where do Barrow train. I believe this was all brought, in various posts, about by the distance we are from anywhere to attract any sort of decent new blood.

The new Barrow training ground is near Knutsford Ideally placed to attract players from the Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham areas. They only have to travel to Barrow itself on match days, as do a Russian club who train in Moscow and fly into and out of a Siberian town on match days.

Would it be good idea to relocate the training ground to the end of the M180 / M18 so that travelling to train would not be a problem in attracting new signings for us. I would also mention that this could be financed by the sale of Cheapside for housing; about 10/15 properties @ £100k per plot , £1 - £1 1/2 million.

First of all I believe that we rent the land at Cheapside so there's zero chance of it being a fundraiser for new training facilities. Decent training facilities will cost upwards of £5m anyway. And secondly, the long term aim of the club is for good players to play for the club for longer than five minutes and settle in the area like the Buckley team did. Just because the club is in the state it is at present doesn't mean that we should long term plan for worst case scenarios. Training facilities at the end of the M180? Seriously? A better brand identity for GTFC, new training facilities, a new stadium, a winning team and a manager players can believe in are much more compelling arguments for a player to sign for us than cutting a daily commute down by thirty minutes. And what about the youth set up? Do we get the kids to travel down the M180 for every session or go to the lengths and cost of building two training complexes? Knutsford is ok for Barrow, they'll be non-league for good sooner rather than later, and we should aspire to something much more than that. Training ground near Doncaster? Knee-jerk and barmy imho..

Plenty of land in Great cotes for a training ground.

Quoted from Rob_in_Grimsby

As far as I am aware the Club Lease Cheapside on a long term lease from the land owner.
The location is not best for all sorts of reasons and I have never understood why the club has never looked at buying land and developing their own modern facility,

A modern training ground doesn't get you 3 points on a Saturday does it?

Quoted from GollyGTFC

A modern training ground doesn't get you 3 points on a Saturday does it?

I'd like to throw that question over to Lincoln City FC, what do you think Mr Imp?.........

It's not a new idea at all...

Years ago Stranraer had a great run with (I think) back to back promotions and their team was recruited and trained in Glasgow and on matchday the entire team was bussed to Stranraer.

If the plans for a new stadium on the Quayside include training facilities, that's it sorted isn't it? Straight off the motorway onto a brand spanking new concourse with a magnificent new trawler shaped stadium as the centrepiece with top class training facilities integrated into the scheme.

I think I might be getting a bit carried away though.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

If the plans for a new stadium on the Quayside include training facilities, that's it sorted isn't it? Straight off the motorway onto a brand spanking new concourse with a magnificent new trawler shaped stadium as the centrepiece with top class training facilities integrated into the scheme.

I think I might be getting a bit carried away though.

I know what you're saying but a 'trawler shaped stadium' sounds dreadful....

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

If the plans for a new stadium on the Quayside include training facilities, that's it sorted isn't it? Straight off the motorway onto a brand spanking new concourse with a magnificent new trawler shaped stadium as the centrepiece with top class training facilities integrated into the scheme.

I think I might be getting a bit carried away though.

With the smell of fish meal wafting to their nostrils.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

If the plans for a new stadium on the Quayside include training facilities, that's it sorted isn't it? Straight off the motorway onto a brand spanking new concourse with a magnificent new trawler shaped stadium as the centrepiece with top class training facilities integrated into the scheme.

I think I might be getting a bit carried away though.

And yet, in their own different guises, you've only described what 80-90% of all league clubs have got already..

Quoted from DB

On a post yesterday, from Youngy I believe, the question was where do Barrow train. I believe this was all brought, in various posts, about by the distance we are from anywhere to attract any sort of decent new blood.

The new Barrow training ground is near Knutsford Ideally placed to attract players from the Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham areas. They only have to travel to Barrow itself on match days, as do a Russian club who train in Moscow and fly into and out of a Siberian town on match days.

Would it be good idea to relocate the training ground to the end of the M180 / M18 so that travelling to train would not be a problem in attracting new signings for us. I would also mention that this could be financed by the sale of Cheapside for housing; about 10/15 properties @ £100k per plot , £1 - £1 1/2 million.

Whe we played there in the National League, I was speaking to one of their staff and he said the majority of players did train well away from Barrow.

    Let me throw this one in, when does Barrats football pitches covenant run out? No one has built on the old swimming pool ground YET!  The changing rooms on Barrats are being allowed to fall into disrepair somethings going on!

Quoted from Ruston AT

    Let me throw this one in, when does Barrats football pitches covenant run out? No one has built on the old swimming pool ground YET!  The changing rooms on Barrats are being allowed to fall into disrepair somethings going on!

Council budget cuts?

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I know what you're saying but a 'trawler shaped stadium' sounds dreadful....

The Qatari's were on about building one of the stadium's for next year's world cup in the shape of one of their traditional 'dhow' boats. I don't think this one actually went ahead, but I'd be alright with a trawler-esque version of this nestled into the dockside.

[youtube]k0B_J1smPag[/youtube]

Yeah, I've been thinking this for a while and I think it's pretty imperative we do move training grounds at some point in the not-too distant future. If we were to keep it in Lincs the ideal location would be around Brigg/Elsham, at the apex of the A15/M180. Outside of Lincs, Hatfield/Thorne near Donny would be decent.

We live in a village just outside Donny. The main reason we moved away from Grimsby were the transport links.

Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, York, Hull and Grimsby are all less than an hour away. Nottingham,
Derby, Harrogate, Huddersfield and even the outskirts of Manchester are not much over an hour away. Regular direct trains to London

The council here are also more proactive about attracting inward investment and actually building things rather than just drawing ‘artists impressions’.

Quoted from Marinerdan

We live in a village just outside Donny. The main reason we moved away from Grimsby were the transport links.

Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, York, Hull and Grimsby are all less than an hour away. Nottingham,
Derby, Harrogate, Huddersfield and even the outskirts of Manchester are not much over an hour away. Regular direct trains to London

The council here are also more proactive about attracting inward investment and actually building things rather than just drawing ‘artists impressions’.

Didn’t they pay for the Keepmoat?

Quoted from Bigdog

First of all I believe that we rent the land at Cheapside so there's zero chance of it being a fundraiser for new training facilities. Decent training facilities will cost upwards of £5m anyway. And secondly, the long term aim of the club is for good players to play for the club for longer than five minutes and settle in the area like the Buckley team did. Just because the club is in the state it is at present doesn't mean that we should long term plan for worst case scenarios. Training facilities at the end of the M180? Seriously? A better brand identity for GTFC, new training facilities, a new stadium, a winning team and a manager players can believe in are much more compelling arguments for a player to sign for us than cutting a daily commute down by thirty minutes. And what about the youth set up? Do we get the kids to travel down the M180 for every session or go to the lengths and cost of building two training complexes? Knutsford is ok for Barrow, they'll be non-league for good sooner rather than later, and we should aspire to something much more than that. Training ground near Doncaster? Knee-jerk and barmy imho..

That’s the whole point, it isn’t just Barrow that do this. Many clubs adopt that approach in the leagues above us. The clubs adopt this approach because it not just improves the first team squad, the scope of youth players they have to choose from is much wider. Evan Khouri is the first player in many a year that’s come from outside of Lincolnshire for our youth set up and that’s only because he has family from the area. Let’s be honest, young players would much rather go to Hull, Lincoln and Doncaster than play for us. The last player to come through our youth system and go on to better things was.. Ryan Bennett and guess what, he was from Ipswich and signed at 16. We don’t produce players often enough for the basis to be around the youth, so why not have a bigger scope to increase the chances of us being able to sign another Ryan Bennett that has been released from his club?

Quoted from MarshMariner

You could buy Scunny for 1/2 million..

But would you want to 🤣

Quoted from immariner

Yeah, I've been thinking this for a while and I think it's pretty imperative we do move training grounds at some point in the not-too distant future. If we were to keep it in Lincs the ideal location would be around Brigg/Elsham, at the apex of the A15/M180. Outside of Lincs, Hatfield/Thorne near Donny would be decent.

Could locate at Elsham aerodrome, not as much history as Scampton (103 squadron based there - 248 aircraft from there lost during WW2 - alot of young men that), better road links, station and pub in Barnetby for apres-training protein-shakes...

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Didn’t they pay for the Keepmoat?

They did, I think DMBC own it and Rovers have a long lease. There’s a few all weather training pitches there and a smaller stadium which I think is used for the yoofs.

Whilst it seems radical at first thought, heresy even to have a base away from the town......but if you sit back , think , even in just taking the last 3-4-5 managers very similar issues in player recruitment quoting location, training facilities, infrastructure as a factor have occurred.  
One saying it is easily dismissed as excuses , two saying it a coincidence , three saying it ...four saying it.

Despite being a bit of a traditionalist regards Town/ football,  where the club actually train during the week doesnt bother me one bit. Yes it would be nice to keep it local but times change. If location is genuinely an issue then if the mountain of talent wont come to the Mariners then the Mariners must go to the mountain of talent.
You would have to consider that land values in a nice central location with good transport links to build a facility would be higher than here of course.

The other "coincidence" or constant if you will , is that over similar timescales as the location and facilities have become an issue , the contract negotiations have also been undertaken by the one person.  Linked ??  Time will tell.

Quoted from Marinerdan

They did, I think DMBC own it and Rovers have a long lease. There’s a few all weather training pitches there and a smaller stadium which I think is used for the yoofs.

Cheers Dan

Even if we only lease Cheapside, there might be some value to the landlord in us leaving, especially if there’s a prospect of planning approval for development. If there’s a better location (and surely west of the town is better than south) it should be considered.

It truth it’s not entirely important where the training facilities are. Clubs all over Europe have training facilities a considerable difference away from say the stadium.

One fact also remains, cheapside is nothing more than a Sunday league setup in truth. That can’t be helpful when recruiting, clubs lower down the pyramid have better facilities. If we don’t own cheapside we will be limited on what we can and can’t do, we’ve always done everything on the cheap anyway so perhaps it’s time to move, somewhere easier to reach, somewhere than can be developed and something forward thinking and modern.

Hopefully with the penny pinching dinosaurs on their way out we may have a chance for such a facility...

Quoted from Poojah

The Qatari's were on about building one of the stadium's for next year's world cup in the shape of one of their traditional 'dhow' boats. I don't think this one actually went ahead, but I'd be alright with a trawler-esque version of this nestled into the dockside.

[youtube]k0B_J1smPag[/youtube]

Only if we can all arrive by water taxi 😉

       Great Coates is a good choice.