Sheffield United's revised timescale for Dore training ground after significant financial cost so far detailed
Sheffield United's revised timescale for Dore training ground confirmed after significant financial cost so far detailed
Sheffield United’s long-awaited new training facility at Dore is still “a couple of summers away” from being completed, chief executive Stephen Bettis has admitted, with more than half a million pounds so far committed on professional fees alone. The Blades secured the former HSBC Sports Ground site a few years ago for a new base.
But the project has been hit by a number of delays, especially when United dropped out of the Premier League and suffered a drop in income as a result. But the ball has started to roll again on it, even if the original timescale will not be achieved.
The need for a new base is two-fold, allowing United to retain their current Shirecliffe home as a dedicated academy set-up which would enable them to become a category one facility and test themselves against the best in the country.
Speaking to local media in a sit-down interview at Bramall Lane this afternoon, Bettis said: “So we are pretty much there with full designs now. We appointed an architect at the end of last summer and they’ve set up working groups where everyone’s had an input into what’s required at the new facility, the flows of the building and all that sort of thing.
“It’s pretty much fully designed now. We’re looking at going out and getting costings for it before we then start public consultation with the local community and put in a planning application.
“So progress has certainly been made. We’ve spent well in excess of half a million on professional fees getting it to where we are at the moment, so there’s been investment and support from the owners in doing that.
“It looks great, the designs, and I’m hoping before the end of the year people will get to see some of the imagery as well, to get everyone excited about it.”
Bettis was understandably reluctant to put a definitive timescale on when the project will be completed, after the delays that have dogged it so far. “I think we’re hoping by the end of the year to be in for planning,” he said.
“Which means we’ll have done public consultation as well. People will have seen the stuff that’s been prepared, the images and everything, and the way it will look.
“You’ve obviously then got to get planning, you’ve obviously then got to go out to tender to get it built, and then you’ve got to build it, which probably takes 12-15 months to build it, I think.
“So it’s still a couple of summers away from it being ready, I would expect, if everything went perfectly to plan.”