We received planning consent back in July but, given the nature of the location, we've had other hurdles to get over before the green light was given to go ahead with the full project which will include new pitches, a new indoor training centre to house all the playing staff under one roof, along with a new indoor all-weather area.
It was news that passed some by almost unnoticed. There were some really positive comments whilst others didn't seem to appreciate the importance of it at all. One even asked on the message board why it was more important to spend this money on the training ground rather than on a new player.
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| The current first team facility on the south side of the river |
Back in July, I wrote an article on the 60th anniversary of the opening of England's oldest training ground. Then chairman and manager, Bob Lord and Alan Brown, were there to welcome back the players for training ahead of the 1955/56 season.
That anniversary came four days after the planning consent was given by the council. It was news I viewed then, and do now, as so vital to our club and that it was perhaps appropriate that Sean Dyche, who has been so influenced by Brian Clough, who in turn was influenced by Brown, should be our manager at this time.
Brown was the man behind it. His idea was that we could bring youngsters from school to develop them into footballers who would have a place away from the ground, dedicated to learning their skills which could then be transferred onto the pitch on match day.
Within no time at all the conveyor belt of talent was producing first team footballers at some rate. We had a number of teams, even having a colts team that played their home games at Towneley.
Gawthorpe was, as I wrote in July, state of the art. It most certainly isn't now; it's nowhere near.
I can't recall the first time I visited our training ground. It would probably be some time in the 1970s and definitely after we'd evacuated the great barn which used to house the dressing rooms etc.
It would probably have been for a pre-season game when our junior teams used to play against opposition such as Padiham Wanderers and Colne Dynamoes, then a Lancashire Combination side.
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| The new bridge seen from the south side by the existing building |
I didn't take too much notice of the surroundings but I did of some of our young players who were showing some potential and that was very much the case with one 16-year-old back in 1980. I'm certain the game was against Padiham Wanderers and with around fifteen minutes to go we introduced this youngster as a substitute; he was one of our new apprentices.
I'm not the sort of person you could send scouting; I'm not sure I would be sharp enough to spot the talent in some players, but this kid looked brilliant, you'd have had to have had your eyes closed to miss out on it.
"Who's this?" I enquired of my old friend George Bray who was standing a few feet away.
"One of the new lads," was the response from George.
"He looks a bit special," I dared to suggest.
"Not bad," was George's reply.
For anyone who knew George, he was not one to go over the top with anything so if he said a player wasn't bad then I think it would be fair to say he might just have rated him a little.
This player had made his first team appearance by the end of that first season at Burnley, albeit as a substitute. By the following season he was a regular in the first team and remained so for two years. Then Everton came in and signed this youngster Trevor Steven.
I didn't recall at the time but apparently I went into work at Preston on the following day and said I'd seen a 16-year-old who would play for England. Because he was a Burnley player it was scoffed at but in February 1985 one Blackpool fan reminded me of what I'd said. Trevor had made his England debut the night before.
We've had some dark days in terms of bringing through young talent and, to be honest, I didn't get particularly excited back in November 2004 when a young lad came on as a substitute in a Youth Alliance Cup game against Darlington for Alex Taylor.
"Any idea who this is?" I asked to ensure some level of accuracy in my report. "It's Kiko's lad," I was told by someone pointing to the familiar figure of Kiko Rodriguez on the touchline. I believe it was young Jay's first game at youth team level and he certainly made a mark in the first team some time later.
Neal Trotman, who played in the Football League for a number of years, was in that team as were Chris McCann, Marc Pugh and Kyle Lafferty, all of whom have played Premier League football.
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| The new pitches on view alongside the youth team pitch with the new facility in pitches set for the foreground |
By then, Gawthorpe had deteriorated to the point where manager Steve Cotterill, in his first season in charge, would not allow his first team squad to use the changing facilities. A former Claret, who had played for the club almost twenty years earlier, told me that not a penny had been spent there in that time.
The players changed at the Turf and travelled to Gawthorpe in cars, but when they got there they found the pitch facilities to be very poor. A cup run helped and, along with one generous supporter, Cotterill was able to fund a new first team training pitch.
Our first Premier League season helped. We were able to fund significant changes to the building which, for the first time in over seven years, meant the first team players could go directly to Gawthorpe and change there.
But, scandalously, it led to the youth team players being treated as if they were second class citizens. A 'First Team Entrance' sign was placed over the door. The youth department were banished and even for their Youth Alliance games both they and the visiting team had to travel back to Turf Moor to shower after a game.
It was an appalling situation but one that has changed since with at least some facilities being provided for them at Gawthorpe.
That will change with these new plans. The club have said it will house all the teams together for the first time but more correctly it will bring all the players back together.
Our club has fallen behind so far over the years. From having the first ever training ground with the best of facilities, from having a youth system that was the envy of every other club in the land, we can't claim to be anywhere near with either any longer.
Some have worked hard to improve things and certainly we saw a big improvement within the youth department in the period when Martin Dobson and Vince Overson were heading it, and now, at last, we are going to have the facilities we so badly need.
They will be a massive boost for the first team but also for all the other teams and they should give us the opportunity to move up from EPPP Cat 3, and we even came close to losing that a couple of years ago, which will allow us to progress even further.
I don't go as often as I used to, nor as often as I would like, but I am delighted because this is a massive step forward for us in every sense.
Ntumba Massanka scored twice for the development squad yesterday. When I saw him play for the first time around three or four years ago it was at Gawthorpe, the same is the case for Cameron Dummigan who is currently on loan at Oldham. I'm not suggesting they are going to be future internationals like Steven and Jay Rod, but maybe they are the next young talent I've seen start off there and progress into the first team.