New Barrowfield Training Centre opens its doors | OneFootball

Celtic Football Club is delighted to announce that the new state of the art Training Centre at Barrowfield is now complete, and the facility is now fully open for use by our Women’s team and Academies.

The complex, which sits proudly in the heart of Glasgow’s East End, re-emphasises Celtic’s strategy of maintaining a strong commitment to both developing our own players and investing in women’s football, with the project representing the largest infrastructure investment by the Club since the redevelopment of Celtic Park in the late 1990s.

Celtic Chairman Peter Lawwell commented: “We are sure that the new Barrowfield development will prove to be a really important milestone in the Club’s future.

"Celtic’s history is characterised by so many young players coming through the Club’s own development system, gracing the first-team and playing such an important role in our many successes throughout the years. We want to improve further in this area and through the new facility, we will be striving for even more success, with the new high-quality centre giving our Academies and Women’s team every opportunity to flourish.

“While we had opportunities to develop facilities elsewhere, Celtic was born and has been raised in the East End of the City. It was very important for us that we maintained this important presence in the local community, in a place dear to our hearts and a place where so many Celtic Legends have been made.”

Below is a list of some of the features of the new and improved Barrowfield Training Centre.

Celtic Manager, Brendan Rodgers added: “I think it’s really important for our women and the young players to have a facility that allows them to develop, especially in the more difficult winter months.

“Being indoors means greater coaching time and a stronger focus on development for the young players. It’s a great facility that players and staff can really look forward to being in.

“Players who come through your own system always give you that little bit more, that extra 1%. It's vital that we have these players in our squad.

Celtic FC Women’s Manager Elena Sadiku said: “In terms of doing your best and being fully prepared as a team, it’s important to keep the quality high in everything we do - whether that’s media, analysis, or training sessions.

“Facilities like this leave no excuses for anyone; they make sure we deliver the best performances and are properly prepared for games.

“As head coach, having all of this means we can give the players the best preparation possible - to help them develop, get results at the weekend, and, most importantly, to create the conditions where the standards are high and they have to meet them. Overall, there are no excuses to be the best we can be.

Celtic Chief Executive Michael Nicholson added: “The new Barrowfield Centre will be vital in achieving two key elements of the club’s strategy, namely supporting young player development and delivering investment in women’s football. We are sure these new, high-quality facilities will be crucial in delivering real benefit to the Club for years to come across both the boys and girls academy structures and our women’s first team environment.

“So many Celtic heroes have followed the path from Barrowfield, through our academies to the Celtic first team and now, in this new setting, we hope to give our young players and Celtic FC Women even greater opportunities to excel and deliver continued success to the club and our supporters.”

Captain of Celtic FC Women, Kelly Clark, who has been a mainstay in the Women’s side for over a decade added: “The dome is a lot bigger than I expected it to be. It’s amazing that we have got somewhere we can come and do full, proper sessions when the weather isn’t great outside.

“There will be no more complaining about set-pieces in the middle of winter in the hail, wind, or snow. Now we can come in here with no excuses into a top-of-the-range facility, fresh out of the wrapper. I’m just so impressed I can't lie”.

Callum McGregor, who came through the ranks of Celtic’s Academy as a youngster and has gone on to win 24 major honours with the club so far, added: “We have an amazing academy process that everyone goes through, which has to be elite all the time.

“Players come through the door nowadays at six, seven, eight years old where excellence is everything, and that’s what we want to achieve.

“The challenge is to get as many players as possible through to the first team. Being involved in high-level European football, we know the standard required so that needs to start as early as possible.

“The club has done great work in getting it ready so hopefully the players can enjoy it and we can continue to produce top level players.”