FA give go-ahead to Burton construction

Building work on the National Football Centre in Burton is to begin in January after the Football Association board unanimously approved plans today.

The board formally endorsed the work schedule for the St George's Park project at their November meeting and also approved a commitment from both the FA's Professional and National Game Boards to guarantee that the £105million project is financially underwritten.

Building work on the centre is due to be completed in the summer of 2012.

FA board member and chairman of the National Football Centre board David Sheepshanks said: "St George's Park will be a world-class facility providing top-class education for future generations of English football coaches.

"It will also be an internationally-leading sports medicine and performance research centre; a training home to enhance international team development and an inspirational hub for everyone involved in football from the grassroots to elite.

"Today's decision means that we can open in 2012 and help to deliver the first exciting legacy of a golden summer for sport in this country. St George's Park will be accessible to all, aspirational, educational, sustainable and iconic - a truly national centre for our national game, in the heart of England."