Top 5 training facilities in world football

The game of football has reached great standards of excellence in recent years. It has grown a lot technically and attributes likes speed, pace and agility are necessary for any footballer in the present day to be able to reach the highest standard of play.All the big clubs in the game have very good facilities which are essential for the growth and development of future players. As the saying goes, ‘The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war’. Proper facilities do not only include the ground but also medical staff, equipment used by the staff, swimming pool and other aspects of infrastructure to really improve the overall experience for the players and everyone at the club.

#5 Arsenal: London Colney

London Colney, which hosts the training facilities of Arsenal, is the brain child of the club manager Arsene Wenger, who has been with the club since 1996. The multi-million pound centre of excellence was built in 1998 with the help of a huge chunk of the transfer fee received from Nicolas Anelka’s move to Real Madrid and was officially opened in October 1999.

It consists of ten full-size pitches, one indoor pitch and medical and rehabilitation facilities which have been well renowned for years now, with even the English National Team preferring to use it while preparing international matches and tournaments.

The facilities are known to be top-class and are frequently used by the England National Team for their preparations ahead of international tournaments and matches.

Thomas Muller called the Emirates Stadium pitch his ‘living room carpet’ after their 2-0 Champions League loss against Arsenal in October. This kind of extensive work is also applied to the pitches at this complex, with one of the pitches having under-soil heating as well, mimicking its much larger and more glorious counterpart.

#4 Real Madrid: Ciudad Real Madrid

Ciudad Real Madrid is the name of Real Madrid's training facility, which translates to ‘Real Madrid City’ in Spanish. It is also known as Valdebebas Sport City.

The complex is a state-of-the-art training centre with three full-size synthetic turf fields, two full-size natural grass fields, 5 one-third full-size synthetic turf fields and two full-size natural grass fields.

Ciudad Real Madrid also includes the Alfredo di Stéfano Stadium where the reserve team Real Madrid Castilla play their home matches.

The facility contains an in-house swimming pool for the first team, a hydrotherapy centre, and a strength and rehab centre as well.

#3 Barcelona: Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper

Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper is training facility of FC Barcelona, which was named after the club’s Swiss founder Joan Gamper.

It was a relatively new training ground for the Catalan Giants when it officially opened on June 1, 2006, and was initially used by the youth teams before the first team also moved there on January 19, 2009.

The facilities in the complex are the envy of many of the top clubs in the world. It still has a lot of the classic Barcelona infrastructure and is very close to the Camp Nou, so the locals can really enjoy watching the whole club training.

Barcelona’s famed ‘La Masia’ academy fully completed its move to Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper by 2012 after the construction of a new building to house all of the club’s youth teams.

#2 Manchester United: Carrington

Carrington is the perfect surrounding for any footballer to train in. The home of Manchester United, it had its new training facilities officially opened on 26 July 2000.

The facilities are popularly known as “Fortress Carrington” amongst the media and locals. It covers a total of 108 acres with 2.4km of fencing and 30,000 trees to surround the compound and keep players away from any distractions, aloof of media or any opposition spying.

The complex is both a training facility and a rehabilitation centre. It has 14 practice pitches of different sizes, which gives players full knowledge of global plating areas, as the length of pitches differs from stadium to stadium.

Current manager Louis van Gaal has sanctioned plenty of changes in Carrington since taking over as manager in July 2014, including the relaying of the pitch and installation of HD cameras to monitor players. He also ordered for more trees to be planted to help shelter the facility from winds and most recently won a battle to install floodlights to help make evening training sessions possible.

#1 AC Milan: Milanello Sports Centre

One of the most renowned and distinguished training complexes in world football, the facilities at the Milanello Sports Centre have been in operation since 1963. This has been one of the prime reasons of the club's success over the last half-century along with the continuous attraction of superstars from around the world.

The compound is 160,000 square metres in total and includes pinewood trees, a little lake, six normal pitches including one synthetic grass pitch, one covered pitch and one small sized outdoor pitch. The facilities at the centre are so profound that the Italian Football Federation prefers to prepare for all major tournaments in this centre.

The Milaneelo Sports Centre is most famous for helping improve the longevity in careers of players who have played with AC Milan team over the years. Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta are some famous names that pop up often while Andrea Pirlo, who is not in Milan at the moment, enjoyed most of his career at the club and is still playing these days.

The list of Milan players who played in their late 30’s at the highest is very long and not only Italian players benefited coming to Milan but French, Argentine, Brazilians and Dutch players have also had very good experiences at this beautiful training facility.