The St George's Park National Football Centre thread

zXen · Apr 23, 2012

BarryfromEastenders said: ↑

The wage for the director of football role is reported to be £350,000. Southgate is the favourite. Imagine he gets the job and then ends up explaining why he can still keep his punditry job at ITV too?
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If money that large is being offered then it should go to a more high profile candidate, but I doubt it will.

It makes you wonder what Pearce earns at the FA these days...

rubinkazan · May 15, 2012

Just looked about this centre on youtube and the first thing I noticed was the the size of all the training pitches, they are all full size. No other credible European nation still trains it's youth on full size pitches, except us. Maybe they should rename this 'hoofball and run training centre', because I think the FA have got it all wrong, as usual.

BarryfromEastenders · May 16, 2012

rubinkazan said: ↑

Just looked about this centre on youtube and the first thing I noticed was the the size of all the training pitches, they are all full size. No other credible European nation still trains it's youth on full size pitches, except us. Maybe they should rename this 'hoofball and run training centre', because I think the FA have got it all wrong, as usual.
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Is this a wind up?

BarryfromEastenders · Jun 25, 2012

Some good pictures of St George's park -

http://www.thefa.com/St-Georges-Park/SiteImages/Site-Gallery

thebigman · Jun 25, 2012

looks nice! not many small pitches though?!

sendorange · Jun 25, 2012

This place is not intended for kids, it's for coaches and the youth squads up to seniors.

thebigman · Jun 25, 2012

still see youth sized pitches at top club academies and small sided games are still useful in training

zXen · Jul 20, 2012

Interesting that Southgate has left the FA. I didn't see that coming tbh, thought he might stick around until St. George's opens atleast.

http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/NewsAndFeatures/2012/gareth-southgate-statement-200712.aspx

thebigman · Jul 20, 2012

i wonder if he has been offered a management job?

zXen · Jul 20, 2012

thebigman said: ↑

i wonder if he has been offered a management job?
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I'd be surprised if he does return to management so soon. He will continue as an ITV pundit though. Now he is out of the running to be the new Technical Director it certainly makes you wonder who the FA will appoint.

BarryfromEastenders · Jul 20, 2012

All that crap from Brooking about how important that role was and Southgate was just doing a part time job covering for Brooking and now he leaves.

dwanyewest · Jul 21, 2012

Dan Ashworth is the favourite to be the director now does anyone know anything about him?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jul/20/gareth-southgate-leaves-fa-role

zXen · Jul 21, 2012

When Hodgson was still manager at WBA he recommended Ashworth to be a candidate during a press conference.

There is this article that was released yesterday in the Independant regarding Southgate's departure and the Technical Director position:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...avoid-joining-the-blazer-brigade-7962451.html

It's interesting what's said at the end of the article by the supposed FA insider regarding the TD position - "not as many people want it as you might think".

zXen · Sep 4, 2012

Dan Ashworth’s FA future hit by doubt

Sir Trevor Brooking has revealed the FA are considering a rethink on their plans for a technical director – throwing fresh doubt on the future of Albion’s Dan Ashworth.

The Baggies’ sporting and technical director was believed to be in pole position for the technical director’s role with a formal approach expected from the FA this week.

But Sir Trevor, the FA’s director of football development, today revealed the role might not now be filled with the governing body considering splitting the job between several people.

Asked whether the FA still planned to name a technical director, Sir Trevor said: “Probably not. There was an expectancy level that Gareth Southgate might be that person, we had an interview process and Gareth decided it might be too early for him.

“I partly do that role anyway but we were trying to look longer-term at possible successors.

“With everything that is involved with the EPPP (elite player performance plan), you start to think about several areas that might need to be two or three key areas.”

The governing body are still expected to seek talks with Ashworth about a role within the set-up at the new St George’s Park national football centre, but that might not tempt him.
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http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/west-bromwich-albion-fc/2012/09/04/dan-ashworth’s-fa-future-hit-by-doubt/

Appears to be another bad move by Brooking & co.

BarryfromEastenders · Sep 5, 2012

I don't even get his excuse for not wanting someone now. They wanted Southgate who had limited experience in the role anyway and when he says he's not ready they scrap it?

Makes no sense from start to finish.

zXen · Sep 5, 2012

Exactly, as soon as soon as Southgate leaves the FA for some reason there is no longer any need for a Technical Director. It's completly farcical to not have a real TD for a centre like St. George's Park, this just makes us look a bit amateurish.

I think Brooking just wants to have as much control as possible. It's a shame because St. George's Park needs to have the best personnel availible. Ashworth would be a great TD for this new Centre.

zXen · Sep 9, 2012

West Brom’s sporting and technical director Dan Ashworth to quit club to take up a key new role at the FA
Dan Ashworth is expected to quit West Bromwich Albion in the next few days to take up a key new role at the Football Association.

Crucially, however, Ashworth is unlikely to be given the title of the FA’s technical director after the organisation decided to redefine the position following Gareth Southgate’s decision not to take it.

Ashworth is currently West Brom’s sporting and technical director and worked alongside England manager Roy Hodgson at the Premier League club.

His departure will come as a serious blow to West Brom who had enjoyed a successful start to the season and regarded Ashworth as a vital part of their structure of effectively having a director of football in charge of player recruitment working with a head coach, Steve Clarke who succeeded Hodgson.

Although nothing is understood to have been formally agreed as yet, it’s believed that Ashworth is moving towards accepting the FA post.

Ashworth will be given a very clear brief at the FA working on developing the youth players, the sports science and medicine side of the organisation, women’s football and with Sir Trevor Brooking, the director of football development who he will report to.

He will be based at the £100m National Football Centre at St George’s Park in Burton-on-Trent and won’t have a great deal of involvement with Hodgson.

Southgate, the former head of elite development, was in line to take the role of technical director – the only previous incumbent had been Howard Wilkinson who left in 2002 – but quit the FA in July after he expressed reservations over the role which led to suggestions that the recruitment process was chaotic.

Brooking recently suggested the role might be split between several people although Ashworth will be an important addition to the FA’s staff and the way the organisation will develop.

Formerly a player, with Norwich City, Ashworth arrived at West Brom in 2007 and has taken a central role in the club’s success, with a record in the transfer market that is hugely impressive.

He is also heavily involved in developing Albion’s youth programme, having previously been academy director, and was linked a move to Liverpool over the summer as they considered appointing a director of football to succeed Damien Comolli.

The FA have waited until the closure of the summer transfer window to push ahead with appointing Ashworth, so as to disrupt West Brom as little as possible, and while the club want him to stay they will reluctant release him.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...club-to-take-up-a-key-new-role-at-the-FA.html

zXen · Sep 10, 2012

West Brom's Dan Ashworth set to take on key FA role overseeing future of English football

The Football Association are set to announce the appointment of Dan Ashworth as the new chief of £100 million football centre St. George's Park – but West Bromwich Albion will not allow him to start work until next season.

Albion have reached an agreement with the FA that will ensure Ashworth remains the club's sporting and technical director until June before taking on a similar position with the FA, where he will be charged with overseeing the future of English football.

Negotiations between the FA and Albion are at an advanced stage and Ashworth is believed to have received assurances about the post before deciding to accept the role at the new centre in Burton-upon-Trent.

The job title is still uncertain but Ashworth will have a major say in the coaching and development of youth players, effectively taking on a similar position to Dave Brailsford with British Cycling.

An official announcement is expected to be made by the FA later this week but Ashworth will not begin his new job until he has served his notice period at the Hawthorns, which expires at the end of the current campaign.

The FA are keen to have the 41-year-old in place within weeks but Albion chairman Jeremy Peace, a renowned tough negotiator, has successfully agreed a compromise. Peace is understood to have made it clear that Ashworth had to remain at the club for the January transfer window.

West Brom have been fearing the departure of Ashworth for months and have already drawn up a shortlist as they prepare to search for a replacement. Ashworth, who has been at the Hawthorns since 2007, will assist with the hunt for his successor.

It is understood he sought guarantees from the FA about the exact definition of the role, and how much overall control he will have, before agreeing to take on the position which will more than double his current £200,000 a year salary.

A former Norwich City player, Ashworth first established his reputation at Albion's Academy after working in similar roles at Peterborough and Cambridge. He was promoted to technical director in December 2007 and is largely responsible for player recruitment, the Academy and sports science.

His record in the transfer market has been particularly successful in recent years, bringing the likes of Peter Odemwingie, Youssouf Mulumbu and Claudio Yacob to the club for minimal fees. Earlier this year he travelled to Argentina to watch Yacob train for his club Racing, clambering over a fence to get a better look at a player he eventually signed on a free transfer.

Ashworth's departure will be the second major exit from Albion this year, after Roy Hodgson left to take charge of the England national team in May. Hodgson is believed to have been a key figure in the appointment, though Ashworth is more likely to liaise with Trevor Brooking, the FA's director of football development.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...le-overseeing-future-of-English-football.html

Shame it is going to take until next season for his appointment. It's nice to he has sought guarantees on the definiton of his role and the overall control he will have.

zXen · Sep 12, 2012

Albion's loss is FA's gain as England turn to highly rated Dan Ashworth
West Bromwich Albion could feel the loss of their director of football even more than the departure of Roy Hodgson

The name Dan Ashworth will not mean much to some people but that is just the way West Bromwich Albion's sporting and technical director likes it. Ashworth prefers to stay under the radar, quietly going about his business, whether that means keeping a low profile at a time when the Football Association is close to announcing he will be joining them, or climbing over a fence in Buenos Aires, which is what he did earlier this year so that he could watch Claudio Yacob training.

Yacob, an Argentinian signed on a free transfer in the summer, is the latest in the long line of Ashworth success stories that have helped to turn Albion into the Premier League's model club – 10th place last season on the back of 11th the year before while operating with the second-lowest wage bill in the division and carrying only £2m of debt – and earned the former Norwich City youth player a glowing reputation that has encouraged FA executives to tread a familiar path to The Hawthorns.

Ashworth is set to follow in the footsteps of Roy Hodgson by swapping Albion for the FA, where he will take up a wide-ranging technical role at St George's Park that will include responsibility for developing coaches as well as players. It is a measure of how highly Ashworth is regarded at The Hawthorns that the majority of the club's supporters believe that losing the 42-year-old is a much bigger blow than the sight of Hodgson packing his bags at the end of last season.

An intelligent man who qualified as a teacher when he was rejected by Norwich, Ashworth is immersed in football. He has been the brains behind Albion's renaissance, transforming the academy set-up, recruiting astutely at senior level and working closely with the head coaches he has been charged with appointing since he took up his current position at the club in 2007. He watches up to 200 live games a season, at least another 100 on TV and completed one transfer deal that saw him start talks while queuing for the Aerosmith ride with his children at Disneyland Paris and finish negotiations as he got off.

Never one to blow his own trumpet – "Please, the last thing I want is for this to read like a big 'I am' article," he told the Express and Star reporter in a rare interview last year – Ashworth has his fingerprints all over the current Albion team, which has been assembled at little cost and has made a flying start to the new season. Under his watch Graham Dorrans was picked up for £100,000, Youssouf Mulumbu joined for £175,000, Jonas Olsson was plucked from NEC Nijmegen for £800,000 and Gareth McAuley and Yacob cost nothing. The list goes on and on.

Those wondering how his eye for foreign talent will help in the role at the FA are overlooking the wider attributes that Ashworth brings to the table.

He is a highly respected coach – he initially arrived at Albion in 2004 to work in the club's academy alongside Aidy Boothroyd – driven to succeed in whatever he does and an excellent communicator, blessed with the sort of diplomatic skills which could come in handy at the FA. "Dan's got Henry Kissinger qualities," says a close friend, when it was put to him that working under Jeremy Peace, Albion's notoriously tough chairman, must have been challenging at times.

As a player Ashworth was a tenacious full-back but he failed to make the grade and after completing his teacher training, became the education and welfare officer at Peterborough, where he also coached a few junior teams. When Peterborough's academy disbanded for financial reasons he moved on to Cambridge United and worked in the centre of excellence when John Beck was in charge. "As soon as we saw how Dan worked, we knew we had someone very special," Beck says. "It was the way he man-managed youngsters – there was no barking, it was always very positive. He was target set, driven and a fantastic communicator."

Beck has remained in contact with Ashworth. "Within a week of getting the job at West Brom he invited me down to peruse and give him feedback. What I witnessed was an expert 'guide and discovery' session, where he was using Q&A to get the answers and solutions out of the players. That's a very clever and skilled way of coaching because it gives players ownership."

It is Ashworth's people skills, though, that have left a big impression on those that know him well. "There is a story I will tell you that sums Dan up," says Kit Carson, who took Ashworth to Norwich as a 12-year-old and later worked with him at Peterborough United and Cambridge United. "Two years after he left Cambridge, we took a team down to West Brom's academy for a game. When we arrived, Dan greeted every boy that got off the coach and called each of them by name. His success is based on being understanding to people and getting on with them. But he's not soft; he's hard and tough when he needs to be."

It is easy to see why Albion have fought so hard to try to retain Ashworth but the opportunity to play a part in shaping the future of English football has proved too attractive to turn down. His notice period means that he is likely to remain with Albion until the end of the season, unless the Midlands club can find a replacement well before then. What is clear is that Albion's loss will be the FA's gain.

The man for all sorts of reasons

Dan Ashworth has many attributes the Football Association will find valuable

Eye for talent He has brought in several top players for low fees, such as Graham Dorrans, Youssouf Mulumbu and Jonas Olsson

Diplomatic relations His knack of pulling off these bargains highlights his people skills, crucial with many different parties to satisfy

Coaching skills Far from just an excellent negotiator, he is a highly respected coach, having arrived at West Brom eight years ago

Knowledge of youth football He has displayed his forward thinking by transforming the academy set-up he was first recruited into
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/...ball/rss+(Football)&utm_content=Google+Reader

zXen · Sep 17, 2012

Dan Ashworth appointed

The FA confirm appointment of new Director of Elite Development.

The FA can confirm that Dan Ashworth has been appointed as its new Director of Elite Development.

Ashworth will join The FA from West Bromwich Albion, where he has spent eight years, most recently becoming the club’s Sporting and Technical Director in July 2008.

The 41-year-old, whose start date with The FA has yet to be confirmed, will be based at St. George’s Park – home of The FA’s new National Football Centre and training base for the 24 England teams.

Ashworth, who holds a UEFA Pro Licence, has a proven track-record in youth development as well as extensive experience of coaching elite players within the professional game.

Working with The FA’s Director of Football Development Sir Trevor Brooking, his key responsibilities will include:

Leading The FA’s role in delivering the Elite Player Performance Plan [EPPP] in conjunction with the Premier League, Football League and professional football clubs with the ultimate goal of producing more English playing talent

Managing The FA’s coach education team to ensure the provision of a continuously developing, world class, qualified and licensed coaching workforce covering the whole game

Delivering The FA’s high performance strategy to provide the optimum support for users of the world-class facilities at St. George’s Park and including; Performance Analysis, Sports Science, Medicine, Psychology, Scouting and Research

Working with Sir Trevor Brooking and the National coaches of the U16 to U20 teams to deliver the optimum learning experience for elite young English players in order to improve their physical, technical and mental abilities

Leading the new women’s elite performance unit, with the aim of producing more English female playing and coaching talent for progression through the women’s game to international level

Ashworth will not work specifically with the England Senior or Under-21s teams, but will play a key role in the development of the country’s elite talent through his close working relationship alongside Sir Trevor Brooking and Adrian Bevington, Managing Director of Club England.

Alex Horne, The FA’s General Secretary, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dan to The FA and offer our thanks to West Bromwich Albion for their courtesy throughout this appointment process.

"Dan is highly regarded and hugely respected within the game and we believe securing his services at The FA will give the future of English football, from the grassroots to the elite level, a tremendous boost.”

Sir Trevor Brooking, The FA’s Director of Football Development, said: “We are currently enjoying a hugely exciting and important time for football in this country, from the recently approved Youth Development proposals to the completion of the National Football Centre at St. George’s Park.

"I am really looking forward to working with Dan, who will play a crucial role as we continue to develop and deliver The FA’s technical development programme and raise standards of coaching.”

Dan Ashworth said: “I am really pleased and indeed honoured to have been offered the opportunity to join The FA.

"Working within the national set-up has always been a life-long ambition. To do so at a time when the future of the game in this country has never looked brighter, through the completion of St. George’s Park and the Youth Development proposals, is an exciting challenge which I look forward to taking on.”
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http://www.thefa.com/News/2012/sep/dan-ashworth-appointed.aspx

sendorange · Sep 18, 2012

Ashworth looks a great choice, young English and good experience in a similar role.

Sign of Hodgson having more influence than Brooking? That would be a welcome thing, long past time for 'Sir' Trev to get the boot.

zXen · Sep 18, 2012

Hodgson tipped Ashworth for the job when he was managing WBA so it wouldn't surprise me if Hodgson had some input into his appointment. He is clearly the best English option around, it's just a shame he can't get started straight away.

zXen · Sep 25, 2012

Article from the BBC on Ashworth's appointment today:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19678859

Slater582 · Oct 7, 2012

5live are doing a show from St George's Park (Monday) tommorow.

7-9 pm, British time.

The Guardian · Oct 8, 2012

Slater582 said: ↑

5live are doing a show from St George's Park (Monday) tommorow.

7-9 pm, British time.
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Yeah just came across it, so popped in to alert folks.

Well done!