Former Town chairman David Sheepshanks says the FA’s new National Football Centre at St George's Park will help England to get ahead of the likes of France and Spain. Sheepshanks, who is the chairman at St George’s Park, was speaking as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge opened the £105 million, 330-acre facility in Staffordshire which will be home to 24 senior and junior England teams.
Sheepshanks said: "This is a place to inspire young people and young coaches to invest in themselves and go beyond just getting the badge.
"The teachers of the game have the defining influence. We are investing in the teachers so that we can get ahead of what they are doing in France and Spain.
"This is a deliberately long-term view. Really it is the investment in coaches that is crucial and from 2020 onwards we will have winning England teams."
St George’s Park has 11 outdoor pitches, five floodlit with undersoil heating, a full-size indoor 3G artificial surface, an altitude chamber, an indoor 60m sprint track and a Hilton hotel with suites named after ex-England managers and players.
In addition to Sheepshanks’s role in the project, there is a further Town connection with Alan Ferguson the head groundsman. Current Blues chief executive Simon Clegg attended today’s opening.