Having been inside on business and to quite a few other training grounds, I can tell you that it’s at least the equal of Arsenal, Chelsea and Southampton and absolutely wipes the floor with Palace, West Ham and the rest of the clubs in the south. The exception is Tottenham, who built theirs later. That is probably the best club training ground in the country, behind only St George’s Park.
The point is not only that it has enabled us to have a category 1 academy but that it is also an elite-level workplace for the first team, which can make a difference when attracting players. Obviously money and coaching play a part but facilities matter too.
Have you been to Leicesters and Liverpools? I believe they were both built after ours. By all accounts Leicester went big on there’s and well I assume Liverpools is world class.