Fernandes confirms training-ground rethink please log in to view this image http://www.westlondonsport.com/qpr/fernandes-confirms-training-ground-rethink please log in to view this image 22/01/2015 By West London Sport Tony Fernandes has confirmed that QPR have scaled down their plans for a training ground at Warren Farm but says they hope to be based there within two years. West London Sport revealed last year that Fernandes was having second thoughts about the Warren Farm project and subsequently that Rangers were planning to go ahead with the move but planned to make the new facility more modest than previously suggested. And the Rangers chairman has admitted that there has been a change of heart and that amended proposals are now scheduled to be submitted to Ealing Council. He told the club website: “What’s happened with the training ground isn’t too dissimilar to the situation with the first-team where we brought a lot of players in and it didn’t work – we got relegated. “We initially had big plans for a state-of-the-art training ground, but we as shareholders then thought ‘Is this really what is needed?’ please log in to view this image QPR’s initial plans for Warren Farm have been toned down “We have looked at a number of other clubs’ facilities and seen what works well, and the end result was we scaled back on it – apart from the pitches, we want to have great pitches. “I have met with Julian Bell, the Ealing Council leader, and we will be submitting amended plans to Ealing Council shortly. They have been very supportive. “We have got our budgets in place and work should start on the site this year with a timescale for the project of two years. “It will please me greatly when I see it. So much work has been done already but let’s remember, this is just a facility. “What pleases me more is the work I can see that’s going on at Harlington and the Concorde Club, where our academy are currently based.” Rangers, who have trained at Harlington for almost a decade, say the new facility at Warren Farm would still enable the club’s academy to achieve category one status.
I could be misreading it all but it sounds a bit like Old Mother Hubbard planning a banquet and then checking the supplies in the pantry. It could either be pragmatism or austerity (both can't be argued against really) or it could be that the initial enthusiasm is waning.
I would not be surprised if the shareholders are indeed getting the jitters so to speak. This is an exclusive pic of the scaled back plans... please log in to view this image
It's an all weather car park so would do us fine. Might not help with our run of training ground injuries though.
There must be room for what - two or three treatment tables in there??? - At least there's a ramp for our older players...
On a serious note it makes me wonder if our legal people have worked out roughly how much £$£ the board will have to find for any impending fine if we go down. The amount of money they have all put in on a project that is showing no immediate sign of breaking even let alone them recouping their losses.
Posted on this a couple of weeks ago. My source, who already has a contract to work on this, says it looks very impressive. Scaled back doesn't necessarily mean small. Or cheap. It must have been confusing for the board - when first planning they had Hughes and Mike ****ing Rigg, who I can imagine went in for the grandiose, bells and whistles, appliance of science, great big **** off offices for themselves plans. Now they have a manager who only needs a field, a couple of cones and a place to get a cup of tea and recharge his mobile. Getting the academy on the same site as the first team is critical. Surely the cleverest thing to have done would have been to look at Southampton. Arsenal, Utd - teams with recently built training facilities and just said 'well, how close can we get to that?'.
Nice one, I now remember you posting this. Great news. Having very good facility's must also be a big factor in trying to lure better quality signings to our beloved QPR.
Good to hear. TF: “What’s happened with the training ground isn’t too dissimilar to the situation with the first-team where we brought a lot of players in and it didn’t work – we got relegated. “We initially had big plans for a state-of-the-art training ground, but we as shareholders then thought ‘Is this really what is needed? The answer is YES! FFS! This line really scared me. So happy to read your response mate.
If we go down we might have to play our home games there whilst we are in the Conference and LR is sold off to developers to pay the league their money. Ground share with Southall Cubs under 10s.
I would guess that the reality is we have had to scale it back a bit to appease the objectors but there is a bit of spin by TF making out it was a rethink. Either way it is positive news and suggests a longer term view.
Good shout. I am still encouraged to hear all this. If they were getting very jittery then they would have stopped this completely. It is still progress of sorts and that can only be good in the long run.
Yes, apparently QPR have allowed one third of the area to remain covered with dog sh!t for her and the rest of them to walk in - like it is at the moment.
I think part of the compromise is to move the dog **** from the other two thirds into that part as well so that they can wallow in both their victory with the planning department and the smell/taste/squidgy feel of freedom that they've campaigned so hard to keep.
please log in to view this image Save Warren Farm@savewarrenfarm Jul 6 Great picnic on the cut grass acres of #WarrenFarm. This space is magical. Who likes the picnic plates? pic.twitter.com/c40B0paLYN http://www.wfig.org.uk/ Save Warren Farm@savewarrenfarm 1h1 hour ago "@QprColin: @savewarrenfarm @BushmanQPR ****in bored housewives and pensioners with nothing else to do with their sad lives" @tonyfernandes https://twitter.com/savewarrenfarm
So if some compromise has been reached with the nimbys I hope our training pitches don't have one of these on every corner... please log in to view this image
Those were exactly my initial thoughts Norway. That sentence really jumped out at me, pulled its trousers down, and farted in my general direction. What Premier League football club really needs a state-of-the-art training ground anyway!?? Useless things... However, having read it all again I think that Uncle Tony just hasn't expressed himself very well. Judging from what Stan says I think that is will still be a state-of the-art facility, but on a slightly smaller scale. I'm pleased that he has at least committed to the project, albeit a down-scaled one, and I'm glad that he has stopped implying that we no longer really need to move from Harlington after all. That line wasn't fooling anyone.
