'I love the club and want us to be successful'

Representatives of Stoke City broke ground on the development, which will create a new state-of-the-art building

Construction work has begun on a new £12m pavilion for Stoke City’s first team.

The new facilities at the Clayton Wood training ground form part of the club’s efforts to return to the Premier League, bosses said.

“I love the club and just want us to be successful,” said owner John Coates.

“One of the key roles I can play in that is investing in facilities to help us build towards that success.”

The first phase, a new pavilion for the first team, is scheduled for completion in December 2025.

The second phase will see refurbishment of the club’s existing pavilion building which will exclusively serve its category one academy and women’s team.

Stoke City vice chair Richard Smith said the new building would include a gym, swimming pool, hydrotherapy suite, cryotherapy suite and offices for support staff as well as catering facilities.

There will also be a tactics room, where coaches and players will watch video analysis, he said.

Mr Smith said it was no secret they wanted to return to the Premier League.

“We spent 10 years there, we’ve been out of it for a while now, and we’re very keen to get back up there,” he said.

“We want to make ourselves ready for that transition before we actually get in there.”

Once they finish construction of the new building, work to refurbish existing facilities will begin.

Bosses said the total investment in the club’s training base would be above £25m

Recent additions such as a new fan zone and improvements to the Ricardo’s bar had been great for club, bringing more supporters to the club earlier on match days, Mr Smith said.

“We want people to enjoy an overall matchday experience as a Stoke supporter, and it’s an experience they haven’t had available to them before.”

Club bosses said the work represented their biggest financial outlay on an individual project since the bet365 Stadium was built in 1997, and that it formed part of a seven-year plan for enhancing facilities.

It will take the total investment in the club’s training base above the £25m mark.

Sporting director Jon Walters said: “It shows the mentality of the owner and the football club, and the direction they want to take.

“It’s part of a wider project, but a message to everyone here, who currently works for the football club, that’s where we want to be.”

It showed the club was not resting on its laurels, he said.

He added: “As a sporting director, to have an owner like John Coates to be really backing that and really progressing the club and driving it from his side, it’s music to my ears.”