Ipswich Town show off new training ground after five-year build

Ipswich Town chief executive Mark Ashton has given Sky Sports Football a tour of the English club's new training facility. He said it took five years to plan, design and build.

Ashton said the centre had been open for roughly three or four weeks when the tour was filmed. He described seeing it up and running as a relief after years of development.

The tour followed what Ashton called the players' journey through the building. It began at a new media room, which also serves as a tactical and meeting space during the week. The room is a replica of the one at the club's Portman Road stadium. The manager uses it for tactical and technical briefings, and broadcasters use it on media days. Ashton said the journalists' seats were comfortable but the building was meant to feel like a place of work for players. He said they were expected to give everything to become the best version of themselves.

At the centre of the site is a hub that every other area leads off. It connects to the pitches, boot room, medical and sports science departments and the changing rooms. Ashton said the club studied other football clubs and sporting organisations around the world before settling on the design. He said director of performance Andy Rolls pushed for the central layout. The hub includes a lounge area meant to encourage players to stay on site, with a coffee machine that players said made them want to linger.

Ashton contrasted the new site with the old training ground. He said the old building was small and not fit for purpose, and that the club still won three promotions in five years from it. He said a player had to give up a dressing-room space whenever the club signed someone, because there were not enough pegs. He added that the medical and gym facilities fell short of the standard the club needed and that players only had a kitchen to gather in. One player described the difference as night and day and said the new site showed the club's ambition.

The tour also covered player welfare. Ashton said players collect individually labelled supplements from a dedicated station after training. He said the club blood-tests players every week so staff know each player's needs. The manager and the performance team talk daily about training load, session length and intensity, he said. He called injury prevention at least as important as recovery.

The final stop was the treatment room, which Ashton said is busiest in the mornings when players seek treatment before training. During the visit a player was having his ankle checked, and another had ice on his knee to help control swelling. One player said he usually saves massage and soft-tissue work for the days before a match. He said he prefers stretching and mobility work in the gym at other times, and also uses the hot pool and ice bath.