Tottenham have submitted plans to extend their training complex with a new and improved gym and treatment room which unfortunately will come too late for their current injury crisis.
Spurs sent their plans to Enfield Council in mid-December and they were validated this month with further documents before they work their way through the planning process. It is something of a coincidence that the north London club could have done with a larger treatment room in recent months with Ange Postecoglou's side going through a prolonged and unprecedented injury crisis, with more than double figures in unavailable players for most games.
If approved, the new plans, which were first mooted in 2021, will result in an extension to the western side of the first team building at the Hotspur Way training complex in Enfield.
The extension will provide an enlarged and improved gym for the first team to use, integrating state-of-the-art training, recovery and rehabilitation technologies, with the aim of optimising the players’ performance. Some of the enhancements will include an Altitude gym, high performance data collection, a yoga and Pilates studio as well as integrated nutrition within the gym.
The new proposals will also deliver a new and improved treatment room and enhanced sport science facilities, enabling more rapid and improved injury treatment, prevention and recovery.
The new sport science facilities will allow the club to keep pace with the ever-progressing medical science within football and will include a cryotherapy chamber, specialised rehabilitation gym and recovery room. The plans also include new consultation rooms to accommodate the expanding medical team and provide enhanced medical care as well as providing improved kit storage and space for other support functions.
The design and access statement submitted to the council by FA Architects, on behalf of Spurs, reads: "The proposed first team extension was developed as a direct response to the club’s ongoing operational needs, as they seek to continue their success at the highest level of European football.
"The club is committed to continue delivering a high-quality service and talent development suited for a top tier football team. As a result, the size and existing facilities in its current building must follow suit in terms of expansion and improvement, within this advancing field of sports facilities.
"Since the training centre opened nearly 10 years ago in late 2012 there have been a number of developments across the elite men’s professional game and sports science that now require the club to investigate the need to expand the gym and medical wing at the training centre.
"This would support the operational and training requirements of the first team, and help to maintain the facility’s world class status, which is vital to club’s ability to perform at the highest national and international levels, as well as attract future talent.
"These new developments in sports science have required the number of permanent staff members to increase from 105 in 2016 to 300 in 2023, due to the expansion of existing departments within the centre, and a number of newly formed ones."
Tottenham will be hoping that, if approved, the new area will prevent further injury crises like the one the club has been battling with this season.
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