Emne: TEMA: Thorp Arch

[h.b]

Phil Hay på muligheten om å flytte treningsfeltet nærmere Elland Road og byen Leeds nå som Andrea Radrizziani har begynt å satse stort på klubben:

"been told that sites in Holbeck being considered for training ground"

Eneste område der jeg kan tenke meg er rett bak The Commercial. Hvis den er plass da

[h.b]

Og skjer det, ja da er det synd at puben er lagt ned. Kunne fått en ny vår den puben

[Promotion 2010]

Jay Smith

Well we have a new indoor 4g and outside of building painted blue .. man of his word..


Rad jobb på TA!!!

[Torpe-do]

Og skjer det, ja da er det synd at puben er lagt ned. Kunne fått en ny vår den puben

Er puben lagt ned for godt?

[JacobScreek]

Og skjer det, ja da er det synd at puben er lagt ned. Kunne fått en ny vår den puben

Er puben lagt ned for godt?

Noe for LUSCOS å arrangere en dugnad, pusse opp og drifte her??? Familien Lorimer vil vel gi sin velsignelse...

[DenHviteYeboah]

Og skjer det, ja da er det synd at puben er lagt ned. Kunne fått en ny vår den puben

Er puben lagt ned for godt?

Noe for LUSCOS å arrangere en dugnad, pusse opp og drifte her??? Familien Lorimer vil vel gi sin velsignelse...

Fantastisk forslag!

[auren]

Og skjer det, ja da er det synd at puben er lagt ned. Kunne fått en ny vår den puben

Er puben lagt ned for godt?

Noe for LUSCOS å arrangere en dugnad, pusse opp og drifte her??? Familien Lorimer vil vel gi sin velsignelse...

Fantastisk forslag!

Enig. Spennende  Og et egnet navn for puben kunne jo være Hot Shot? 

auren

[Torpe-do]

Og skjer det, ja da er det synd at puben er lagt ned. Kunne fått en ny vår den puben

Er puben lagt ned for godt?

Noe for LUSCOS å arrangere en dugnad, pusse opp og drifte her??? Familien Lorimer vil vel gi sin velsignelse...

Sjukt spennende idé!

[Runar]

Og skjer det, ja da er det synd at puben er lagt ned. Kunne fått en ny vår den puben

Er puben lagt ned for godt?

Noe for LUSCOS å arrangere en dugnad, pusse opp og drifte her??? Familien Lorimer vil vel gi sin velsignelse...

Fantastisk forslag!

Enig. Spennende  Og et egnet navn for puben kunne jo være Hot Shot? 

auren

Er vel nye eiere på bygningen og den skal rives er siste vi vet

[auren]

Og skjer det, ja da er det synd at puben er lagt ned. Kunne fått en ny vår den puben

Er puben lagt ned for godt?

Noe for LUSCOS å arrangere en dugnad, pusse opp og drifte her??? Familien Lorimer vil vel gi sin velsignelse...

Fantastisk forslag!

Enig. Spennende  Og et egnet navn for puben kunne jo være Hot Shot? 

auren

Er vel nye eiere på bygningen og den skal rives er siste vi vet

Da må du, Rudi, Ollan og resten av gjengen reise bort og lenke dere fast!

auren

[lojosang]

Og skjer det, ja da er det synd at puben er lagt ned. Kunne fått en ny vår den puben

Er puben lagt ned for godt?

Noe for LUSCOS å arrangere en dugnad, pusse opp og drifte her??? Familien Lorimer vil vel gi sin velsignelse...

Fantastisk forslag!

Enig. Spennende  Og et egnet navn for puben kunne jo være Hot Shot? 

auren

Jeg er mer fan av Cellar Chilled Pint.

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

[Asbjørn]

Det taes stadig steg mot et nytt treningsanlegg...

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/councillors-set-to-discuss-potential-leeds-united-training-ground-move-within-city-1-8797627

https://www.leedsunited.com/news/club-news/22428/angus-kinnnear-on-leeds-city-council-report

Møte i neste uke...

MoscowhiteTSB‏ @MoscowhiteTSB  1h
1 hour ago
For folk asking where Matthew Murray High School site is —here ya go #LUFC

I forhold til Elland Road:




...men Hay forteller om krav fra kommunen

Phil Hay‏ @PhilHayYEP  2h
2 hours ago
According to the council report, there are issues with Matthew Murray. Local councillors there want housing to be built on the land.
also, part of the land there is currently used by local primary school as playing fields. That said, "the school is supportive" of the plans

Phil Hay‏ @PhilHayYEP  2h
2 hours ago
From the council report, this is what Leeds United are looking for in any development plan:



Phil Hay‏ @PhilHayYEP  1h
1 hour ago
From the report, Leeds say they would have the break the TA lease agreement before finalising plans for a new training ground:





MoscowhiteTSB‏ @MoscowhiteTSB  2h
2 hours ago
 
 
More
Site/ownership plans from the LCC/#LUFC training ground report.

1. Elland Road
2. 'Commercial Development Site'
3. Old Matthew Murray




https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DLyarM9WkAAV2Li.jpg

[Promotion 2010]

Leeds Everywhere
1 of the proposed sites for the new training complex on the former Matthew Murray High School grounds, currently owned by the council. #lufc

[Promotion 2010]

Simon O'Rouke

Check Radrizzani and co out. They're making it look easy. Previous #lufc owners have been self styled "football men", yet Radrizzani struts in and puts them to shame in his first attempt at club ownership (thus far).

[Promotion 2010]

[Promotion 2010]

ANGUS KINNNEAR ON LEEDS CITY COUNCIL REPORT

Following the release of a report from Leeds City Council recommending formal discussions with the Club regarding the development of a new training centre, academy and community sports village at Elland Road, Leeds United Managing Director Angus Kinnear has spoken about how important it is for the Whites to be at the heart of our local community.

Kinnear said: “We thank Leeds City Council for their consideration, we have an ambitious vision for Elland Road and the surrounding area as a centre for elite development and a thriving community sports hub.

"Our Partners at the local Council fully understand the extent of the impact a successful Leeds United can have on our city and that any progress we make will be done so in consultation with the local community.”

The topic is set to be discussed by senior councillors next week and approval of the recommendations in the report will lead to the Council and the Club opening talks regarding the former Matthew Murray High School site in south Leeds as well as the Fullerton Car Park at Elland Road.

[Jon R]

Planer om å flytte treningsanlegget passer bedre i denne tråden, Promo.

[Promotion 2010]

Planer om å flytte treningsanlegget passer bedre i denne tråden, Promo.

Enig!

[Promotion 2010]

Det beste og mest presise avsnittet:

[Asbjørn]

YEP fortsetter i dag.

Leeds United: New facilities are a step closer to home



An aerial view of Leeds United's training ground at Thorp Arch.

Phil Hay Email Published: 18:00 Wednesday 11 October 2017 1

Thorp Arch was once cast as Leeds United’s forever home: a revolutionary, state-of-the-art concept and the envy of most English clubs. Howard Wilkinson insisted on excellence when he drove the construction of the club’s training ground and established a new standard for coaching facilities.

It occurs, though, that Thorp Arch is approaching its 25th year and, for a variety of reasons, is no longer the benchmark complex it used to be. Training grounds are catching up or have overtaken it, a wall of investment in which Manchester City’s Eastlands development supersedes everything. The proposals put forward on Tuesday by Leeds City Council for the regeneration of land around Elland Road has shades of Eastlands and its executive report is explicit in saying that Leeds are ready to embrace a new city-centre base.

 Visionary former Leeds United manager, Howard Wilkinson. Thorp Arch has suffered in the Football League years, denied significant upgrades until GFH installed drainage in 2013 and United chairman Andrea Radrizzani threw money at cosmetic improvements this summer, but the club’s rationale for relocating is more nuanced. According to the council’s report, Leeds see a training base near Wetherby – almost 20 miles outside the city – as “a barrier” to developing “the best of Leeds’ inner-city young talent” and the cause of a “disconnect between the first team and the community they represent.”

No less significantly, Thorp Arch is a rented facility and has been since 2004 when Leeds, after relegation from the Premier League, raised £4.2m by selling it. By the end of their lease in 2029 the club would be paying over £1m a year to use the complex, owing to a deal which increases their rent annually. The current cost is around £700,000.

The property belongs to Jacob Adler, the Manchester business who sold Elland Road back to Leeds and Radrizzani for £20m in June. Adler relinquished the stadium with reluctance, challenging the legality of Leeds’ buy-back clause, but was powerless to prevent Radrizzani’s purchase. Thorp Arch was previously subject to a buy-back provision but only until 2009 and Leeds’ failure to raise £6m before its expiry tied the hands of future owners. The land is worth significantly more on the open market and Adler is under no obligation to sell. At present Leeds’ academy holds category two status, the second-highest grade under the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), and the council’s report states that the cost of leasing Thorp Arch leaves the club “unable to deliver new training facilities to category one status.” Before relocating, Leeds would need to find a way of breaking their binding arrangement with Adler, something which is understood to have been tentatively discussed while Radrizzani was in the process of buying Elland Road. The plush grass of Thorp Arch might look ripe for re-development but the playing fields are protected by Sport England and the council says it would declare the site Green Belt land if United decide to leave.

Two areas in central Leeds have been earmarked for redevelopment: the former site of Matthew Murray High School in Holbeck, which closed in 2006 and has been empty since the school’s demolition, and Fullarton Park next to Elland Road. Fullerton Park served for years as Leeds’ training ground, prior to the opening of Thorp Arch in 1994.


Fullerton Park car park. United want the Matthew Murray site to house a new training complex for their first-team and academy squads, bringing their youth development scheme up to scratch and creating a “world class, state of the art category 1 facility”. Their stated aim implies that they are planning a long-term commitment to academy football and will avoid following Huddersfield Town or Brentford in disbanding lower age groups. Radrizzani said at the time of his buy-out of former Leeds owner Massimo Cellino in May that he aimed to improve the landscape around the club’s stadium as part of a scheme he called ‘Elland Road 2020’. He admitted then that leaving Thorp Arch might be necessary and council report talks of United establishing “a brand and a business model that can sustain top-eight Premier League finishes for the long term.” Among the intended facilities is a dedicated matchday pitch for their junior sides.

The proposal for Fullerton Park involves the creation of a ‘community sports village’, providing a base for the Leeds United Foundation, United’s charitable arm, and facilities for week-night training. The council wants additional indoor facilities to help “reach across other sporting codes...including rugby as well as providing for local basketball and netball teams.”

Its executive report reflects that in a decade of regeneration in Leeds, United have “been in a state of flux”. The council says the club’s stagnant state has “undoubtedly negatively impacted global awareness for the city, international inward investment for the region and ultimately civic pride.” Leeds for their part believe the Elland Road site is “not fitting of a Premier League stadium” and of no commercial or social use outside of match days. It suits both sides to consider ways to overhaul the area. The project, should it go ahead, is a major undertaking but the council wants to deliver both a new training ground and community sports village by 2020. It is proposing the arrangement of a 99-year lease with Leeds for both facilities.

The report does not touch on the subject of funding and there are other complications. Councillors in the Holbeck ward favour a sale of the Matthew Murray site for private housing. The construction of a training ground there would see Leeds acquire two playing fields from Ingram Road Primary School, though the council insists the school is “supportive” of the plan and “believe there to be benefits to them.”

Concerns have also been raised about parking and transport infrastructure and the report called for a strategy which would “need to be agreed with key stakeholders to include the police, local residents and businesses.” The council’s board will vote next Wednesday, October 18, on whether to approve the recommendations and open formal discussions with United.

Read more at: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/leeds-united-new-facilities-are-a-step-closer-to-home-1-8799915

[auren]

Grønt lys fra kommunen 

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/green-light-for-leeds-united-training-ground-and-sports-village-plans-1-8811679


auren

[Asbjørn]

Grønt lys fra kommunen 

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/green-light-for-leeds-united-training-ground-and-sports-village-plans-1-8811679

Herlig.

[Promotion 2010]

Leeds City Council and Leeds United to open talks regarding potential development of new club training ground

A recommendation has been approved that Leeds City Council enter into formal discussions with Leeds United regarding the potential development of a new club training ground in the city.

This follows a report submitted to the council’s executive board, which proposed that future talks be held between both parties regarding the possibility of the club’s official training facilities for senior and academy players being relocated to the currently vacant former Matthew Murray High School site in south Leeds. Also supported by the executive board was a recommendation that further investigations be undertaken regarding the creation of a new ‘Community Sports Village’ at Elland Road’s Fullerton Park site. If a decision is taken subsequently to move forward with these plans, it is proposed that both facilities would, subject to planning permission, open by 2020.

To read a full copy of the executive board report, please see: http://democracy.leeds.gov.uk/documents/s166303/Leeds%20United%20Cover%20Report%20091017.pdf

Councillor Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council’s executive member for regeneration, transport and planning, said:

“I am pleased that the executive board has agreed that the council and Leeds United can begin talks around a potential new club training ground being developed on the old Matthew Murray High School site in south Leeds.

“We know from when the club was previously in the Premier League the impact that a successful and thriving Leeds United can have not just in spreading the Leeds brand around the world, but also in boosting the local economy. Just as important is the power that the club has in the city through its grassroots community and engagement work to enthuse, inspire and make a difference, especially to the lives of young people. The development of a Community Sports Village at the Fullerton Park site is a sign of a renewed ambition at the club to play a significant role in the life of the city off the pitch as well as on it – and that’s what’s been missing for far too long.

“These moves also tie in with our ambitions to regenerate Beeston and Holbeck, where the council has built high-quality council homes next to Holbeck Moor and brought empty homes back into use on Beeston Hill. This sits aside bringing activity and purpose seven days a week to the wasteland around the stadium through the ice rink, the park and ride and the police headquarters.”

Notes to editors:

The recommendation which was approved by the executive board report is as follows:

‘Agree the principle of the council formally entering into one-to-one negotiations with Leeds United Football Club for the development of new football training facilities at Elland Road and Matthew Murray for use by Leeds United Football Club and Leeds United Foundation.’

For media enquiries, please contact;

Colin Dickinson, Leeds City Council press office (0113) 39 51578

Email: colin.dickinson@leeds.gov.uk

[Promotion 2010]

Dean

Did anyone go to the meeting to see what the plan is with the new #lufc academy in Holbeck?


 

[Promotion 2010]

Phil Hay - Inside Elland Road: Sleep pods show Leeds United will not be caught napping under Marcelo Bielsa

Phil Hay
Published: 15:07 Wednesday 26 September 2018
 Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa off his bucket.' Picture: Bruce Rollinson
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa off his bucket.' Picture: Bruce Rollinson
Marcelo Bielsa’s homework on Leeds United was so particular that in his earliest meetings with the club’s senior staff he knew as much about their squad as they did themselves.


But aside from Bielsa trawling through 70-plus hours of footage from last season, what surprised the board most was his resourcefulness in acquiring a set of plans for their training ground at Thorp Arch.


Bielsa, many miles away in Argentina, dug up a blueprint of the facilities on offer to him and provided Leeds with hand-drawn sketches of changes which would feature as part of the agreement over his contract as head coach. He visualised sleeping quarters for his players and more comfortable indoor facilities, with relaxing communal areas set aside for first-team use. It was asking too much to fulfil his brief before the start of the English season but work is now underway and by November Leeds hope Bielsa will have the facility he wants.

There was a story a few weeks backs – not quite true as it turns out – of Bielsa setting up a bed in his office (redefining the meaning of a man taking his work home) but after three months of hotel living he is looking for accommodation on Thorp Arch’s doorstep. His attachment to the complex is what he seeks from his players and what the long hours imposed by him in pre-season were designed to do: create a camaraderie and an environment where, to revisit Pablo Zabaleta’s quote about Manchester City’s Eastlands empire: “I’d rather be here than my house.”

The sleep pods which Leeds are in the process of installing are temporary structures and if the club are breaking any new ground here, it is only by their own standards. Garry Monk used sleeping booths at Swansea City two summers ago. Manchester City’s in-house accommodation is the equivalent of a high-end hotel and good enough for their players to use overnight before home games. Bielsa chooses to hole up his players in an actual hotel pre-match but the beds at Thorp Arch meet the demands for rest and recovery under a head coach who still pushes his squad through regular double sessions.

The intricacy of Eastlands and all Manchester City have created there is an aspiration for Leeds and a motivation for seeking new pastures away from Wetherby. There is, on the face of it, a juxtaposition between the club advancing plans for a new Category One academy while at the same time renovating their existing, rented home but the sleeping quarters are interim designs rather than material changes to the building’s structure. Leeds still anticipate that by 2020, or within the 12 months that follow, they will have vacated Thorp Arch for a multi-million-pound facility less than a mile from Elland Road.

Leeds United Academy at Thorp Arch. Picture: Andrew Varley

The club have been working on that project in the background since last October when Leeds City Council’s executive board approved formal talks over the proposed redevelopment of the old Matthew Murray High School site in Holbeck. United have commissioned artists’ impressions of a state-of-the-art base there and intend to create a site which qualifies for Category One status under the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP). Thorp Arch sits in Category 2 – a ranking with implications for youth development and the retention of academy players – and has long since gone past the point where consideration was given to bridging the gap.

United would like construction to begin next year but a new training base, inevitably, is at the mercy of certain factors. Leeds need to secure full funding for a build which is likely to cost in excess of £20m. There are some in Holbeck, including local councillors, who think the Matthew Murray site should be used for private housing and will argue their case. And there is the requirement for a compromise which allows the club to make an early exit from the lease tying them to Thorp Arch, agreed when the property was sold 14 years ago.

However the process plays out, there is no guarantee that Bielsa will be here to see Leeds up sticks and relocate. In club football, he has never completed three straight seasons in the same job. He has a two-year contract and immediate needs and to that end, he is instigating changes resembling the changes he asked for at Lille last year; facilities which mirror his own work ethic and his footballing mind. Open all hours.

It was asking too much to fulfil his brief before the start of the English season but work is now underway and by November Leeds hope Bielsa will have the facility he wants.

[Promotion 2010]

Leeds United coach Marcelo Bielsa discusses Thorp Arch changes

Phil Hay
Published: 12:08 Thursday 27 September 2018
Marcelo Bielsa hopes structural changes to Leeds United’s training ground will enhance the performance of his squad after convincing the club to invest in sleeping quarters and other improvements at Thorp Arch.


Bielsa said the installation of new facilities, including rooms for his players to rest in, would aid the mood and recovery of his squad amid ongoing work on Leeds’ facility near Wetherby.

 Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa.
Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa.
United are altering the complex following discussions with Bielsa over potential improvements which took place when he and the club were negotiating his appointment as head coach.

Bielsa, who instigated the building of accommodation for his players in his previous job at Lille, wanted more relaxation space for his senior professionals and also asked United to provide beds for them to rest in between training sessions.

A number of Premier League clubs provide those provisions and Leeds expect the renovation of Thorp Arch to finish in November.

Bielsa insisted the changes had not been demanded as part of his deal with Leeds, saying Thorp Arch was already providing “a very good service”, but admitted he had tried to impress on United’s board the importance of matching “the big clubs”.

“I never impose my point of view because we’re here for a short time,” Bielsa said. “All head coaches are in a club for a short time.

Phil Hay - Inside Elland Road: Sleep pods show Leeds United will not be caught napping under Marcelo Bielsa
“I just told the club what kind of infrastructures the big clubs have. This club has extraordinary infrastructures. If you see the pitches, they are a miracle.

“I don't want people to think I impose my point of view to the club because that's not the case. I make suggestions and then the club decides if it wants to invest in the infrastructures or not. When I arrived to the club the players were receiving a very good service. I proposed some small changes.

“The club is willing to give additional facilities to the players. When you are a professional footballer you need to rest and you need to be together with your teammates. This belongs to the profession.

“For regular citizens, when you rest, when you live together, when you have activities together it's not a necessity, it's not an obligation. But in professional football it's an obligation. The club has to take into account the fact that players spend a lot of time here.”

United are planning to vacate Thorp Arch in the next two years with plans afoot to build a new £25m complex close to Elland Road.

The club have rented their current base since selling it to a private landlord in 2004 and pay an annual rent of close to £1m. A £6m buy-back clause elapsed in 2009.

[Promotion 2010]

Simon Austin

Interesting as ever Phil. This would be the ultimate aim: Tottenham have their own Player Lodge at the training ground. Each player has his own room, with bespoke pillow/ mattress & automatic temperature control trainingground.guru/articles/totte…


https://trainingground.guru/articles/tottenham-aiming-for-mammoth-gains-in-rest-and-recovery

[Promotion 2010]

Revealed: official details of Marcelo Bielsa's renovations at Leeds United's training ground

Building work has been continuing apace at Thorp Arch after the head coach made a series of suggestions this summer


A general view of Thorp Arch, Leeds United's training ground (Image: Joe Mewis)

Building work has been continuing apace at Thorp Arch after the head coach made a series of suggestions this summer

Official details of Marcelo Bielsa’s renovations at Leeds United’s training ground have been revealed by Leeds City Council.

The head coach, who had dormitories installed at Lille’s training ground for players to sleep on site, has called for an extensive programme of renovations at Thorp Arch.

Among the series of modifications being made at the training base is the erection of a two-storey modular building in the existing car park.

Any Thorp Arch visitor will have seen this building is already in place, but the plans reveal the exact make-up of its interior and how it may be used.

Exterior view of the two-storey modular building erected at Thorp Arch in 2018
Exterior view of the two-storey modular building erected at Thorp Arch in 2018 (Image: Britcab Ltd)
The ground floor is dominated by two training rooms, with a separate meeting room and toilets.

The largest room on the first floor has been set aside for the club’s coaches, which has two administration offices and a kitchen adjoining.

On the opposite side of the first floor there is a dedicated office for the club’s academy manager Adam Underwood and separate rooms for education and strength and conditioning.

While the modular building forms one part of Bielsa’s proposals, there is expected to be a second, separate planning application for changes within the main building at Thorp Arch.


First floor plan of two-storey modular building installed at Thorp Arch in 2018 (Image: Britcab Ltd)

Aside from broad information provided by managing director Angus Kinnear last month and a basic acknowledgement from Bielsa, there has been scant, specific detail about the modifications.

In his programme notes ahead of September 22’s clash with Birmingham City, Kinnear said: “An extensive programme of renovations is underway to facilitate Marcelo’s training philosophy.

“These renovations include new buildings to provide the first team and academy with more dedicated facilities and dormitory and clubhouse spaces to make the training ground more like the players’ home than their workplace.”


Ground floor plan of two-storey modular building installed at Thorp Arch in 2018 (Image: Britcab Ltd)

On September 27, Bielsa told the media: “I never impose my point of view because we are here for a short time.

“All head coaches are in a club for a short time. I just tell the club what kind of infrastructures the big clubs have. This club has extraordinary infrastructures. If you see the pitches, they are a miracle.

“I don't want people to think I impose my point of view to the club, that's not the case. I make suggestions and then the club decides if it wants to invest in the infrastructures or not.

“When I arrived to the club the players were receiving a very good service. I proposed some small changes and then the club decides if it wants to make the changes or not.

“The club is willing to give additional facilities to the players.



Bird's eye view of where the two-storey modular building has been installed at Thorp Arch (Image: Google Maps)

“When you are a professional footballer you need to rest and you need to be together with your team-mates and this belongs to the profession of being a footballer.”


https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/leeds-united-thorp-arch-bielsa-15330927

[RoarG]

Utviklingen ab treningsanlegget nærmer seg slutten.
https://thisisfutbol.com/2018/10/blogs/kinnear-reveals-leeds-development-nearing-completion/

[Promotion 2010]

Utviklingen ab treningsanlegget nærmer seg slutten.
https://thisisfutbol.com/2018/10/blogs/kinnear-reveals-leeds-development-nearing-completion/

Angus Kinnear gives update on Leeds United's Thorp Arch renovation

Leeds United managing director Angus Kinnear has given fans an update on the building work currently under way at their Thorp Arch training facility.

In his column featured within the programme for the game against Nottingham Forest, the former Arsenal and West Ham man said: “The extensive renovation work at Thorp Arch is almost complete and, under the guidance of Marcelo Bielsa and facilities director Mark Broadley, we have created an environment that demands team unity and high performance.”


And it’s not just the builders who are hard at work. Kinnear explained how life at Thorp Arch has changed over the past few months.

“Thorp Arch has almost become a 24-hour operation with coaching taking place in every available daylight hour and Victor and Marcelo’s team of analysts burning the candle at both ends in assessing everything from tactical innovations in an obscure foreign league to statistical anomaly in our opposition report that might unlock the next victory.”


Bielsa in his Thorp Arch office
The renovation work began back in the summer when Bielsa outlined how he felt the Thorp Arch could be improved, after having got hold of a blueprint of the training facility during the drawn out negotiations over his contract.

Last week we reported on the official plans for the renovations released by Leeds City Council which include a new two storey building in the existing car park which incorporates training rooms, a meeting room and toilets, as well as areas for education and strength and conditioning.


The new building has sprung up at a rapid pace with the external structure looking almost complete at the start of October and Kinnear reports it’s now ‘almost complete’.


Bird's eye view of where the two-storey modular building has been installed at Thorp Arch(Image: Google Maps)
The idea behind the changes is to create separation between the first team and the academy teams. In September, Bielsa told the media: “When you are a professional footballer you need to rest and you need to be together with your team-mates and this belongs to the profession of being a footballer.”

Longer-term, the club are still looking to move their training base back into the city centre, with a site in Holbeck mooted for a new facility.