Playford Road (training ground)

Playford Road, located near Rushmere St Andrew, Ipswich is the training ground of Ipswich Town Football Club.

Playford Road
Map
LocationRushmere St Andrew,
Ipswich
Coordinates52°04′03″N 1°12′48″E / 52.067556°N 1.213289°E / 52.067556; 1.213289
OwnerGamechanger 20 Limited
TypeSports facility
Construction
Builtc. 2001
Opened2001

History

edit

Playford Road was officially opened in 2001. In addition to multiple pitches, the initial development of the training ground also included a dome housing an indoor pitch, with new buildings also being constructed including a canteen, players' lounge, parents' lounge, recreation room, classroom, changing rooms and office accommodation.[1]

In 2018, a new state of the art gym was installed at Playford Road. Further development work was done during 2019, with new improvements made to the medical facilities, including the installation of a £90k recovery suite, £100k was also spent on installing new fencing around the complex, as well as general up keeping work.[2]

Following the club's sale to US-based group Gamechanger 20 in April 2021, Playford Road also became property of the new owners. A small unused section of the ground remained under the ownership of Marcus Evans, where the EADT has reported he intends on building a new housing development.[3]

Facilities

edit

The Playford Road complex includes a wide range of facilities for both the first-team and academy, including a gym, recovery suite, canteen, players' lounge, parents' lounge, recreation room, classroom, changing rooms and office accommodation. The training ground also includes 11 pitches of various specifications, including four full-size grass pitches, four medium-size grass pitches, one medium-size floodlit grass pitch, one full-size floodlit artificial 3G pitch and one indoor medium-size artificial 3G pitch, located within the dome.[1][2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Town open doors to new training centre". Ipswich Star. 16 October 2001. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b "'Parts of it were like a bomb site' – Lambert praises Evans for splashing the cash on 'horrendous' training ground". East Anglian Daily Times. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Gamechanger, Three Lions, pension funds and new faces - a bitesize guide to the Ipswich Town takeover". 7 April 2021.