Celtic’s new training complex at Barrowfield has been given the green light.The club today confirmed that it has today approved significant investment into a state-of-the-art re-development of Celtic’s Barrowfield Training Centre, in the heart of the East End of Glasgow, with the aim to continue to create Celtic’s stars of the future.

The development will deliver a fantastic new complex, hosting Celtic’s boys’ and girls’ Academies and will also be the new dedicated training centre for Fran Alonso’s Celtic FC Women’s first team.

Today’s announcement re-emphasises Celtic’s strategy of maintaining a strong commitment to both developing our own players and investing in women’s football, with the project representing the largest infrastructure investment by the Club since the redevelopment of Celtic Park in the late 1990s.

The new training centre will feature a new indoor arena, featuring full-sized IFA-approved artificial surface plus a combination of outdoor natural grass and artificial pitches. There will be a state-of-the-art gym/fitness facilities and also Celtic Academy and Celtic FC Women office areas.

New changing facilities will be built and there will be medical suites for player treatment/rehab. The new facility will also have a sports science centre, an analysis centre and classroom/learning facilities included.

Comments from Celtic Chairman Peter Lawwell, CEO Michael Nicholson, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and Celtic FC Women manager Fran Alonso below…

PETER LAWWELL 

“We are delighted to agree this commitment and we are certain it will be an important and positive investment in the Club’s future.

“During the Club’s illustrious history, so many young players have come through Celtic Football Club’s own development system to grace the first-team and through the new centre, with greatly improved facilities, we aim for even more success in this area.

“While there were opportunities to develop elsewhere, Celtic was born and has been raised in the East End of the City and it is right that we maintain this presence in the local community, in a place where so many Celtic Legends have been made.”

MICHAEL NICHOLSON

“We are proud to commit to this significant new development and we are sure it will be one which will deliver great benefit to the Club for many years to come. Supporting the development of young players and investing in women’s football are two key elements of the Club’s strategy and the new training centre will be hugely important in supporting our objectives in these areas.

“Some of the Club’s greatest ever players have been trained and developed through its Academy system and we hope that many more young players will follow in their footsteps, benefitting from this new facility, with the ultimate aim of reaching Celtic’s first teams.

“It was also very important for us to provide our Women’s first team with a high quality, dedicated training centre, to allow the team to build on the great success they have been enjoying.”

BRENDAN RODGERS

“Today’s announcement is very significant news for the Club and will give our young players, boys and girls every opportunity to develop further. I know the Club always aims to be the best in everything it does and the new centre demonstrates Celtic’s real commitment to this area.

“Ultimately, the aim of our Academy is to develop first-team players who reach first-team level and I know these great new facilities can support this objective very positively. I am sure the new complex will be welcomed by our coaches and young players and of course, our women’s first-team, giving them all every opportunity to grow and improve in all areas of their work.

“Some of our greatest Celtic heroes have taken the journey from Barrowfield to Celtic Park and we hope our new centre will assist many more in doing the same.”

FRAN ALONSO

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