Journalist claims Newcastle United have site for new training complex almost nailed down with announcement expected this year
Newcastle United fans, and indeed players, especially those who were sold the project when they joined the club, have been waiting for some movement on a new training complex for years now.
Along with plans for a new or revamped stadium, the club have been teasing a new state-of-the-art training complex to rival those of the biggest clubs in the world, but for now we've had to make do with updates to the current site at Benton.
While the current training ground is orders of magnitude better than what the current owners walked into four years ago, the delay in announcing a new site and plans has been a source of frustration.
Now it looks as though the club may have finally settled on a potential site to begin making solid plans with the firm behind the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium waiting to get going.
Newcastle appear to have settled on a site for their new training ground
According to Craig Hope in his latest Newcastle Confidential column for the Daily Mail, a site at Seaton Burn, eight miles north of the city centre, is looking like a strong frontrunner.
While other sites are still under consideration, there's thought to be confidence that a deal can be done for the Seaton Burn site after sites at Woolsington and near Newcastle Racecourse have also been looked at.
Hope says that if things progress with a deal for he land, we could get an announcement before Christmas, which would officially set things in motion, finally.
The change in CEO likely slowed down progress on the new training ground site
Brad Miller is leading the project along with the stadium, but it feels like things have been on hold, or at least hit the brakes, while there has been a changeover in CEO Now that David Hopkinson is in the role, things seem to finally be progressing.
We're still waiting for news on the stadium, which is almost a year overdue after being teased late last year, but that will also have suffered from the same fate as the training ground, with Darren Eales being on reduced duties.
Many players were sold on the dream of a sparkly new training ground and stadium when they joined the project, but with no movement for four years, the club needs to get a move on so those players don't become alienated.
