Portsmouth forced into rethink over long-running training ground plans
Plans to construct a new pitch at Pompey’s training ground have been paused
Pompey have been forced to ‘pivot’ plans to create a new pitch at their training ground.
Yet while the timeframe has changed, Rich Hughes is adamant their ambition definitely remains to increase the number of grass areas at their Hilsea-based home.
The two buildings left vacant following the first-team’s relocation to offices within the Portsmouth Health & Fitness Club in the summer of 2024 had been earmarked for removal.
Coupled with the disused tennis courts situated behind the empty Portakabin, naturally that would have provided the space required to construct one full-sized grass pitch.
As a consequence, by remaining in place, it no longer frees up the necessary room for the addition of another pitch at the Blues’ Copnor Road training base.
Hughes: The timeframe has changed
Pompey’s sporting director told The News: ‘The Academy building impacts putting in new pitches, but it doesn’t stop. There are still conversations going on around it.
‘We’ve probably had to pivot it a bit in terms of how we change the potential pitch lay-outs, but it is still very much part of the thinking of the football club to get to the point where we have more grass space for everyone to get out on the pitch more.
‘That is still very much part of the conversation. When we did the work on the Portakabins, we knew it wouldn’t be a complete knock-on effect on the pitches.
‘So we’re going to have to pivot, but we are still going to be able to do what we wanted to do going forward with the pitch space here.
‘The timeframe has changed and this is where I am very unenvious of the position of an owner and the board of a football club as there are always decisions to be made.
‘Every decision will have a reaction somewhere else and it’s really important for everyone to know. Okay we’ve built Portakabins, it doesn’t mean the pitch is never going to happen. It just means we change and we pivot and keep going in different directions.’
Summer improvements to the training ground
While Pompey still possess the land to add another pitch, the Portakabin area represents the natural place to redevelop.
The Academy department’s summer switch to the building created much-needed space in the Pompey Health And Fitness Club to suit first-team requirements.
On top of that move, the first-team changing rooms at the training ground also underwent a summer overhaul, following extensive player input, headed by club captain Marlon Pack.
There remains another empty building adjacent to the pitches, which once served as separate offices for the first-team manager/head coach and coaching staff, also containing a kitchen and toilets. These days it serves as nothing more than a storage area for football equipment.
Hughes added: ‘John and myself will always give our strategic opinion on where we think the next wave of investment needs to come and the board continue to back us and listen to us on how we make this football club better every day.’