[Albion] The Development Centre

[WATFORD zero]

Shoreham

The single most important decision/investment in the Albion's entire history ? I'm beginning to think it was more important than the Amex

 

[Weststander]

From the bumpy pitches and 1970’s changing bungalow at Sussex Uni …..

…. to producing £50m Ben White.

Imho on a par with getting a proper, owned stadium.


I wish they also did tours of the Lancing complex, would love to see the facilities.

 

[Munkfish]

I’d love to find the embarrassing threads that were created about the development centre. So many what’s the points and very few who actually understood the importance of what was being built and the time it would take for it to mature to see the benefits.

 

[chaileyjem]

From the bumpy pitches and 1970’s changing bungalow at Sussex Uni …..

…. to producing £50m Ben White.

Imho on a par with getting a proper, owned stadium.


I wish they also did tours of the Lancing complex, would love to see the facilities.

Not sure they do tours but if you go to an u23 game you get a good sense of the scale and size of the facilities as you have to walk from the car park past a lot of the pitches/ buildings/indoor pitches/the new womens extension etc to get to the mini U23 stand/pitch.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Shoreham

The single most important decision/investment in the Albion's entire history ? I'm beginning to think it was more important than the Amex

Isn’t it in Lancing?

 

[Stat Brother]

I’d love to find the embarrassing threads that were created about the development centre. So many what’s the points and very few who actually understood the importance of what was being built and the time it would take for it to mature to see the benefits.

There was one poster in particular who every day was hanging on about 'not producing' pretty from the moment the doors opened.

Can't remember who it was, you'd have thought I'd be used to those 'supporters' but now.
I guess I never will be.

 

[nwgull]

I’d love to find the embarrassing threads that were created about the development centre. So many what’s the points and very few who actually understood the importance of what was being built and the time it would take for it to mature to see the benefits.

Shouldn’t be too hard if you’ve got a spare hour. From memory, they were mostly from the Oscar and Sami eras with moans about us sticking to FFP regs of the time and the investment not going where it mattered, with speculation that we had to sell Bridcutt to cover the shortfall for the training facilities. All very short sighted.

There was also a rediculous theory implied that TB had invested in the Albion and built the Amex just as a back door to getting a hotel built at Falmer.

 

[dazzer6666]

From the bumpy pitches and 1970’s changing bungalow at Sussex Uni …..

…. to producing £50m Ben White.

Imho on a par with getting a proper, owned stadium.


I wish they also did tours of the Lancing complex, would love to see the facilities.

Went there once when junior played there……….absolutely blown away. It’s incredible (and that was before the latest developments).

 

[Bry Nylon]

I’d love to find the embarrassing threads that were created about the development centre. So many what’s the points and very few who actually understood the importance of what was being built and the time it would take for it to mature to see the benefits.

Ha! Quite. I remember there was one poster in particular who used to refer to our Development Squad as The Witness Protection Programme.

Whatever happened to that idiot?

 

[Whitechapel]

Shouldn’t be too hard if you’ve got a spare hour. From memory, they were mostly from the Oscar and Sami eras with moans about us sticking to FFP regs of the time and the investment not going where it mattered, with speculation that we had to sell Bridcutt to cover the shortfall for the training facilities. All very short sighted.

There was also a rediculous theory implied that TB had invested in the Albion and built the Amex just as a back door to getting a hotel built at Falmer.

I remember one thread which was during the Prem era. I can’t remember if it was late Hughton or early Potter.

The thread said that the club need to copy whatever Charlton are doing. They were talking about how much money Charlton had generated through youth prospects and IIRC they included some players twice (Konsa to Brentford and then to Villa maybe) to inflate the numbers. Obviously it’s an awful comparison as Charlton were a well established academy with a lot of success stories to advertise to people from a rampant catchment area and penny pinching owners meant a very clear pathway to first team football. A few years later and I don’t think it’s even close to being comparable between the two clubs. But it just proves people couldn’t see the bigger picture even when the pieces were clearly falling in to place.

The most impressive thing about our academy is the fact they seem to be able to do a bit of everything. There’s the players who are in their late teens without a club/looking to move on who we pick up and nurture (Khadra, Richards, Sarmiento), we can spot players from 14/15 and pinch them from other academies (Ferguson, Sanchez, Emmerson) but we’re also now bringing through young local lads who have been here since they were kids which probably ties in with the development centre opening (Turns, Longman, Cochrane). It’s so professional that it’s scary to think that this is the same club who once signed a player just because the chairman promised he’d make 5 signings and had only made 4.

 

[Hendrax]

Isn't it top rated aswell. They do an independent thing and the training ground is AAA or something?

Only a handful in the country.

 

[patchamalbion]

Is it as simple as walking into watch an under 23/18 match there?

 

[Swansman]

Isn't it top rated aswell. They do an independent thing and the training ground is AAA or something?

Only a handful in the country.

Category 1 you mean? Yes, bit more than a handful though - ca 25 clubs.

 

[Weststander]

Not sure they do tours but if you go to an u23 game you get a good sense of the scale and size of the facilities as you have to walk from the car park past a lot of the pitches/ buildings/indoor pitches/the new womens extension etc to get to the mini U23 stand/pitch.

Thanks, never thought of seeing it that way.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

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.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

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.

And, being cynical, or perhaps clinical, having a Cat 1 academy allows us to pick up youngsters from lesser academies and within a much wider radius than those in the lower categories.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Isn’t it in Lancing?

I’ve been out for a pedal (SB will be proud of me) and i cant find it

 

[WATFORD zero]

I’ve been out for a pedal (SB will be proud of me) and i cant find it

From brighton, along seafront, turn right at mini roundabout at Lancing, go straight up that road, right at Mash Barn Lane and Bob's your Auntie's live in lover

 

[zefarelly]

From brighton, along seafront, turn right at mini roundabout at Lancing, go straight up that road, right at Mash Barn Lane and Bob's your Auntie's live in lover

If you nip up for a waft of fresh air in the Tiger Moth you'll see it before you're over the railway line

Or walk the dog along the river bank and you can see shooting practice under the floodlights, its like a driving range at night

 

[Vin]

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.

What line of business are you in, if you don’t mind me asking?