Mansfield Town boss excited by new £2m training facility

The new training ground at Woburn Lane in Pleasley has been named the RH Academy, short for The Radford & Hymas Academy, which honours the two benefactors, chairman John Radford and academy director Steve Hymas, whose funds have made the project possible.

And Flitcroft can't wait to begin using it when, barring any delays, it opens at the end of this month.

He said: "I'm buzzing to get up there. A key factor in me coming here was knowing that for the first time in the club's history, the club was developing its own training ground.

"I think it's a fundamental part of any infrastructure. When you get up there and you see the actual site, the building that's been built and the size of it all, it's phenomenal.

"It's got a 4G pitch with a stand which is probably unheard of at this kind of level, and full credit to the John and Carolyn Radford and directors Steve Hymas and Mark Burton for the vision they've had in making the project a reality.

"I'm not sure it was originally planned to be used as a first team training ground but we certainly would love to lead the values and the message up there whilst it's also a training ground for the community. As the first team, we've got to set the standard when it comes to professionalism, punctuality, preparation and the standard of excellence because the facility is that good.

"I think it will be a lot easier too as at the moment we're a bit departmentalised here, for example with the physio room in one stand, eating under another stand and so on.

"With your own training ground you can spend more time with the players and it's a lot more confined and compact and it'll make a massive difference to the way we do things.

"Relationships with the staff and players will benefit, particularly with the under-21s training alongside us which we can't do at the moment due to only having one pitch and it's a three-quarter pitch at that. It'll be a great opportunity for the scholars too as the best of those will get the chance to come and sample to facility as well.

"The squad will be tighter-knit and in each other's environment all the time and it'll strengthen the drive to come to work each day - it's harder to do those things at a split site as we have now where it's difficult to keep your eye on everything."

The state-of-the-art facility, costing £2 million, will boast a new full-sized and floodlit 3G pitch, built to FIFA standards. Three-full sized grass pitches and a mini-pitch will make the facility a hive of activity at weekends, while the pavilion will consist of four dressing rooms, showers and associated physio rooms.

A function room will be situated on the ground floor, which will include kitchen facilities to allow the room to be used by the local community for functions.

Located on the first floor will be two classrooms and offices which will be used as an education hub.