The FA will struggle to justify the necessity of the all-new St. George’s Park facility, which boasts state-of-the-art facilities including 12 training pitches, a 3G artificial pitch with a 200-seater viewing gallery and an indoor senior pitch replicating the exact size, mix of grass and fibres as Wembley football stadium.
At a glance, the new £105 million Burton-based training complex is a centre of ‘excellence’ for those who have proved themselves anything but on the international stage – a facility propped up by a 1966 World Cup triumph and the repetition of abstract nouns such as ‘hope’, ‘faith’ and ‘progression’. But look beyond the Hilton Hotel and the multi-millionaires indulging themselves and there is something quite interesting infiltrating our national sport this time around: a sense of education.
Much like Exeter’s University Forum, St George’s Park is a symbol for a progressive future – a place for communication and centralised unity in the name of education. Football is generally disassociated from such ideals but the FA’s ambitions to create what is essentially a university for football education and make a subject of the sport should be applauded.
As an institution so embedded within English culture and ever-increasingly popular on the world-stage, it is right that it should be nurtured, and if nurtured successfully, education may see football relieved the negative realities such as thuggery and racism that shroud it. It is as FA Chairman, David Bernstein, suggests, “The teachers of the game [who] have the defining influence.”
Football is entertainment, escapism, a means of fitness, a healthy obsession for children and football is constantly rejuvenated by its expansive wealth. The FA can afford to dally on the concept of education because of its financial self-sufficiency with assets including its ownership of England international matches and the FA Cup which have secured TV deals with ITV and Setanta worth £425 million between 2008 – 2012.
The FA is often portrayed by the media as the organisation which bans and fines high profile players and managers who have broken the code of conduct, and in this sense the ‘men in suits’ can be easy targets for a public both opinionated and detached. But the FA’s commitment to society at grass roots level and in working with young people, often in less privileged urban areas of the country should not go unnoticed. The FA also gives to five selected charities a year.
On an opening day tour of the facility, President of the FA, Prince William, said, “St George’s Park is a concept totally new. It will provide more than just world-class facilities for our national team and more than a university from which hundreds of coaches will graduate. It will provide employment and a social hub for local people and will foster community spirit and purpose and hope throughout England.”
As a financial powerhouse of sport, football can also lead the way in an educational sense in fields of psychology, sports medicine, sports science and technology. St. George’s Park is equipped with an altitude chamber able to mimic the playing conditions of anywhere in the world, an indoor 60 metre running track which can measure running speed and style as well as numerous lecture theatres and conference halls. Then, by extension, it can be expected that the centre will provide scientific progression in fields such as medicine, psychology and injury rehabilitation.
St. George’s Park is undoubtedly a place to pamper the elite, but also a place to bring the elite and society together. The facilities are open to local schools and not only create a quantity of jobs on site but also the possibility to extend the number of paid coaches in England. Football gives to society in a much higher proportion than it takes, and if society can look past the pretentiousness of the facility, it can be an illustrious monument to a sport dedicated to its nation.
St. George’s Park may seem a large and expensive space dedicated to a simple game, but considering the continued significance and popularity of the sport, the FA’s focus on its educational possibilities, both in terms of creating coaching careers and in its scientific capabilities, can only determine the project as a positive undertaking.
Josh Poole
exeposedev 