Newcastle U FC
Gosforth Training Facility Upgraded
Written 14 January 2015, 19:25
At a packed press conference today, Newcastle U FC club Chairman David “two chins” Maguire, flanked by his Manager Rolf Bergstrom and Head of Coaching Barry Falconer, announced that the club was proud to confirm the long-awaited expansion of its Gosforth training facility. Maguire explained that ever since promotion a few years ago, he and the board had realised that in order for the club to push on and deliver the success and exciting football craved by its wonderful fans, the ageing Gosforth Park facility needed to be significantly upgraded.
The recent sale of the tremendous prospect http://www.virtualmanager.com/players/9813553-ismael-ahmadzai has certainly helped Maguire’s cause, the unheralded 19 year old Afghan winger who arrived from http://www.virtualmanager.com/clubs/696884 less than a year ago for only 69,000c was recently sold to German team http://www.virtualmanager.com/clubs/926711 for near to 5 million, the promise of first team football something he craved and Newcastle no doubt seeing the value of the offer as simply too good to refuse.
Manager Rolf Bergstrom said at the press conference that although he had been following Ahmadzai closely for a number of years, and was well aware of how talented he was, after bringing him to Newcastle it was sad to see him depart to Germany so soon and frustrating that he wouldn’t be getting the chance to show off his considerable talent in the Scottish league for Newcastle. Nevertheless, with exciting Slovakian international http://www.virtualmanager.com/players/9559926-vojtech-kmet in the Newcastle squad, the team clearly has good cover in the left wing position for the senior player in the team, Englishman http://www.virtualmanager.com/players/9125295-burne-remond-crelley who has been instrumental to the team’s rise up the table to the top places of the Second Division.
Bergstrom explained that the new training facilities would make a huge difference for the club, with both the first team and the reserves bound to benefit from the much improved set up of the Gosforth site. “What we are looking at now is a place where our players will be able to reach their optimum performance, much more so than before. It’s not just about attracting young players; it is about retaining good players.” Maguire agreed, “it’s about the infrastructure of putting the club on a good footing to progress in the future and move to the next level, it really is so important for us."
Barry Falconer, who with his coaching team will be spending most days of the week at the Gosforth facility, has been providing input into the project, with construction due to be completed in the next few days. He explained that there are four training pitches being installed for the first team, two of which are exact replicas of the pitch at the Sir Kevin Keegan Stadium, and a further three pitches for use by the youth academy along with much improved and expanded medical facilities, gymnasium, pool and classroom area. Maguire added that “it's important to attract young talent so we can compete against the major teams in the second division as well as our dreams of taking this club into the Premier Division, as well as being able to grow our home-grown talent. These are state-of-the-art facilities almost as good as some of the top clubs. It's a facility that will attract good first-team players as well. It gives us the ability to train all year round, with under-soil heating and it should enable us to get the best performances out of our players. “
We asked Billie Whitehurst, Chairman of supporters group Magtastic Day, what he and the Newcastle fans thought about the improvements. "This will be one of the best academies around in terms of the teams we are competing with” said Whitehurst. “It’s a really great selling point for trying to attract class young players to the club and holding on to the best young players.” Whitehurst also mentioned the category status of the new academy, “yes, it is very positive for the club, we can now bring in really good kids and make sure they are well looked after, including talented lads from all around the region who will be better able to stay and play for Newcastle instead of having to look elsewhere to develop their skills and their career.” Fans will though have some regrets about seeing such a talented player leave the club, Whitehurst explaining that “it is definitely very sad to see young Ahmadzai - the new Chrissie Waddle - go, he looked a great one for the future, but if it means our team can get to the next level, I suppose it was great business and good luck to the lad in Germany”.
Newcastle U FC are currently lying third in the second division, the highest they have been in their entire club history, so with these improvements to the training ground, and a rich crop of talented young players, things definitely look on the up for Bergstrom and his team.
The recent sale of the tremendous prospect http://www.virtualmanager.com/players/9813553-ismael-ahmadzai has certainly helped Maguire’s cause, the unheralded 19 year old Afghan winger who arrived from http://www.virtualmanager.com/clubs/696884 less than a year ago for only 69,000c was recently sold to German team http://www.virtualmanager.com/clubs/926711 for near to 5 million, the promise of first team football something he craved and Newcastle no doubt seeing the value of the offer as simply too good to refuse.
Manager Rolf Bergstrom said at the press conference that although he had been following Ahmadzai closely for a number of years, and was well aware of how talented he was, after bringing him to Newcastle it was sad to see him depart to Germany so soon and frustrating that he wouldn’t be getting the chance to show off his considerable talent in the Scottish league for Newcastle. Nevertheless, with exciting Slovakian international http://www.virtualmanager.com/players/9559926-vojtech-kmet in the Newcastle squad, the team clearly has good cover in the left wing position for the senior player in the team, Englishman http://www.virtualmanager.com/players/9125295-burne-remond-crelley who has been instrumental to the team’s rise up the table to the top places of the Second Division.
Bergstrom explained that the new training facilities would make a huge difference for the club, with both the first team and the reserves bound to benefit from the much improved set up of the Gosforth site. “What we are looking at now is a place where our players will be able to reach their optimum performance, much more so than before. It’s not just about attracting young players; it is about retaining good players.” Maguire agreed, “it’s about the infrastructure of putting the club on a good footing to progress in the future and move to the next level, it really is so important for us."
Barry Falconer, who with his coaching team will be spending most days of the week at the Gosforth facility, has been providing input into the project, with construction due to be completed in the next few days. He explained that there are four training pitches being installed for the first team, two of which are exact replicas of the pitch at the Sir Kevin Keegan Stadium, and a further three pitches for use by the youth academy along with much improved and expanded medical facilities, gymnasium, pool and classroom area. Maguire added that “it's important to attract young talent so we can compete against the major teams in the second division as well as our dreams of taking this club into the Premier Division, as well as being able to grow our home-grown talent. These are state-of-the-art facilities almost as good as some of the top clubs. It's a facility that will attract good first-team players as well. It gives us the ability to train all year round, with under-soil heating and it should enable us to get the best performances out of our players. “
We asked Billie Whitehurst, Chairman of supporters group Magtastic Day, what he and the Newcastle fans thought about the improvements. "This will be one of the best academies around in terms of the teams we are competing with” said Whitehurst. “It’s a really great selling point for trying to attract class young players to the club and holding on to the best young players.” Whitehurst also mentioned the category status of the new academy, “yes, it is very positive for the club, we can now bring in really good kids and make sure they are well looked after, including talented lads from all around the region who will be better able to stay and play for Newcastle instead of having to look elsewhere to develop their skills and their career.” Fans will though have some regrets about seeing such a talented player leave the club, Whitehurst explaining that “it is definitely very sad to see young Ahmadzai - the new Chrissie Waddle - go, he looked a great one for the future, but if it means our team can get to the next level, I suppose it was great business and good luck to the lad in Germany”.
Newcastle U FC are currently lying third in the second division, the highest they have been in their entire club history, so with these improvements to the training ground, and a rich crop of talented young players, things definitely look on the up for Bergstrom and his team.
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