St. George's Park follows lead of Manchester Velodrome

The Duke & Dutchess of Cambridge opened St. George's Park

Take a look at the sports news for 9^th October 2012 and you will see it abreast with stories and features on the opening of St. George’s Park, the new National Football Centre. The 330 acre site will be the home to all 24 England teams, and boasts state of the art facilities including an exact replica of the pitch at Wembley stadium and a full-size indoor 3G pitch.

The possibility of the centre helping the country to future major championship glory is already being talked about. Well in all truth that seems a long way off. England winning the World Cup, really? Then again, in 1994 when the Manchester Velodrome was opened, how many people expected it to help win 17 cycling gold medals from the next five Olympic Games, especially when Great Britain had only won 1 gold medal in Cycling since 1920? At the Beijing and London Olympic games, Great Britain topped the Cycling medal table. Britain are simply the dominant world force in cycling. And that’s what happened as a consequence of Britain’s last major sporting development centre investment.

The Manchester Velodrome, now the National Cycling Centre, was initially built as part of the failed Manchester Olympics bid before going on to host cycling events at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and other major championships. Over the last 20 years it has become the home for the nation’s most successful elite sport, and the success of the British Cycling owes a significant debt to this centre. As well as the main indoor track, the centre also houses the National Cycling offices and facilities, and the area has become the main hub for British cycling.

The world-class velodrome has hosted major championships

Dave Brailsford, an increasingly familiar name, is the man at the helm of the nation's cycling excellence having taken over as performance director at the centre, and he has delivered consistent medals at major events. His leadership has included ensuring British elite cyclists live in or near Manchester and train together at the centre, and he has implemented the philosophy of marginal gains in order to improve the athletes. Brailsford's ideas have been integral in utilising the world-class Cycling Centre to its full potential in developing British elite cyclists.

Now as Autumn 2012 is falling, and British Cycling looks back on another astonishingly dominant and successful Olympic Games in London, it is once again pointing to the superb training facilities in Manchester and the leadership of Brailsford as the key to its success. One can only wonder whether England's football team will return home from a victorious 2034 World Cup pointing to St. George’s Park as the catalyst for its success. St. George’s Park certainly holds the same potential for transforming England into a world-beating football side as the Manchester Velodrome did in turning British Cycling in the world's best cycling team, of that there is no doubt.

The park in Burton upon Trent will be home to all 24 England teams from junior to senior level. Its houses 12 full-size pitches, a sports medicine centre, a sprint track, a running hill, an altitude chamber and a Hilton hotel. It will also be the main home of the Football Association (FA) for training and producing coaches, and thus the elite development of players.

Whilst St. George’s Park is the venue, the ideas coming with it are what may transform English football though. Just as the Manchester Velodrome is the world-class venue for cycling, it is Dave Brailsford that has brought the concepts and leadership that have transformed British Cycling. And the job of the FA now is to use its facility effectively.

Spain's focus on technique has won them trophies

The new park is to produce thousands of more qualified coaches to improve English football (Spain, Holland and Germany already have ten times as many coaches as England.) Furthermore, there will be a focus on technical ability rather than the sole focus of winning, something other footballing nations already do. The grouping together of all the football teams will also help in creating a sense of identity and unity within English football. And finally the facilities themselves, those of rehabilitation and training, of medical resources and education, are the best in world, things that should result in no less than immediate positive effects on English football.

The FA is rightly proud of its new investment. It will be an overwhelming disappointment if this centre doesn’t deliver a long-term improvement in the national game. The National Cycling Centre in Manchester has shown what a world-class facility can do for national sport, and now we play the long waiting game, fingers-crossed, hoping that St. George’s Park can do the same. World Cup 2034, here we come.