Wrexham’s ‘Critical’ New Upgrade Could Help Them Sign Better Players
Wrexham hopes its new training pavilion will give the club an advantage when it comes to player recruitment during the summer transfer window.
Work is nearing completion on a bespoke first-team building at Colliers Park that will improve the Red Dragons’ training environment and streamline their sporting operations. Until now, Wrexham has only been able to use the facility for training, meaning players and staff have had to return to the Racecourse Ground to access the locker rooms, gym, medical department and dining facilities.
Phil Parkinson’s side reached an agreement to build a training pavilion at Colliers Park this summer that will provide all of those amenities on-site. The facility will not only improve Wrexham’s soccer operations but also make the club a more attractive proposition for potential transfer targets.
The Wrexham manager previously admitted that the club had missed out on some players because it could not offer the same level of training facilities as its rivals. That is something the Welsh club hopes to address when the new building opens early next month.
“The training facilities are so fundamental to competing at this level,” CEO Mike Williamson told The Leader. “From the daily ability or quality of training for the players all the way through to recruiting players, having a fit and proper training facility at this level is just critical.
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“We, as a club, need to give Phil [Parkinson], the players, and the staff the best environment possible to work in every day, so the immediate priority was to make Colliers Park better for the first team.
“I have to give credit to the collaboration between the FAW, Wrexham University, and Wrexham Council. Everyone took a seat at the table to ask, ‘How can we make this better in the current situation for the men’s first team?’
“The proposed training pavilion will shock people when they actually see the final product. I think they’re imagining a little pod-type structure, but it’s going to be a self-contained first-team environment. It’s going to have a gym, changing rooms, physiotherapy and medical spaces, kit rooms, boot rooms, dining facilities, player services, and offices.
“It’s going to be something that really allows players to recover and train, with two great pitches there as well, all in one location. Right now, there are multiple sites they have to move between, so this is a practical improvement to daily performance.”
Wrexham Still Wants a Permanent Training Ground
Wrexham has been without a permanent training ground of its own for nearly a decade after losing full-time access to Colliers Park in 2016. Facing financial difficulties, the Red Dragons sold both their training ground and stadium to Wrexham University in 2011, although they retained a license to use the facilities for an annual fee.
Although the club now owns the famous Racecourse Ground again, it remains without a permanent training center and has used several different facilities depending on availability. Wrexham still has long-term ambitions to build a training facility of its own, although that process is expected to take at least three to five years.
That means the training pavilion is only an interim solution, but it still represents a significant improvement as the club continues its push for promotion to the Premier League.
“This is an extremely important step. It’s an interim step while we continue to search for longer-term solutions,” Williamson added. “Interim in the sense that this allows us to have two top-end training pitches and everything we need to support the squad, allowing the players to recover from both a nutritional and physical standpoint, all in one place.
“If you look at our ambitions of being a Premier League club, while this will be a great Championship facility, the Premier League is the next step up. Our ambitions will never stop, but this is a solution that allows us to have an immediate impact on the players’ performances and the quality of the squad’s daily planning and training.
“This is where standards are built every single day, and once the training pavilion is finished—which will be before the start of this season—it’s going to help those small margins become points.
“From a recruitment standpoint, when players are looking at clubs, they judge them by the people, the ambition, and the footballing plans, but also, in large part, by the facilities. This strengthens our ability to recruit because now we have proper facilities for a Championship club.”
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