FAI launch plans for Munster Football Centre of Excellence

The FAI, Cork County Council and FORAS, the trust that operates Cork City FC, have launched the new Munster Football Centre of Excellence, which has secured planning go-ahead.

It will finally give a Cork League of Ireland club a permanent home, said Pat Lyons, Chairman of Cork City FC, at the launch of the project.

The complex will provide a training base for Cork City FC and will also provide playing and training facilities for underage teams in Munster, serving as a Munster equivalent to the FAI centre at Abbotstown.

Construction is set to begin in 2017 and the project is expected to take two and a half years to complete.

Located at a 30-acre site at Brook Lodge in Glanmire - 8km outside Cork city - the centre will include three full size natural turf pitches (two with floodlighting), an artificial turf pitch with floodlighting, three small sided floodlit artificial turf pitches and a goalkeeper training area.

It will also house a purpose-built pavilion with viewing area, which will include a classroom, gymnasium, dressing rooms, physiotherapy and medical and team rooms, as well as a community area, and other purpose build facilities.

19 December 2016; John Delaney, FAI Chief Executive, left, and Cork City manager John Caulfield with the Irish Daily Mail Cup during the Glanmire Facility Launch at Vertigo in the Cork Convention Bureau. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Speaking at the launch, FAI CEO John Delaney paid tribute to the work done to bring the project to greenlight stage.

“I would like to thank Cork County Council and Cork City/FORAS for the great work that has already been done on this exciting project.

“This is a multi-partnership project which will include the FAI, Cork County Council, Cork City FC and FORAS, local business, a potential naming rights partner, UEFA and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and I look forward to working with all parties in the months and years ahead.

“Once complete, this will rival any sporting facility in the country, including the National Training Centre at Abbotstown. I hope to see similar facilities in place in Leinster and in Connacht, putting world-class football facilities on the doorsteps of everyone who plays the game.

“As well as being a training centre and base for Cork City FC, this will be a community facility which will be open for players of all ages, coaches, referees, volunteers and administrators. This will be there for all levels of the game, from our grassroots to our professionals.”

Pat Lyons, Chairman of Cork City FC said it gives the club a chance to put down roots.

“The history of League of Ireland football on Leeside has had many ups and downs, but no club has ever truly established a permanent base. Since FORAS assumed control of the club in 2010, this has been a key aim of ours and we are delighted to see the progress that is being made.

“The support Cork City FC had at the Aviva Stadium for the recent FAI Cup final from clubs across the length and breadth of the city and county was magnificent and we look forward greatly to continuing to build our relationships with the clubs and leagues across Cork.

"This project will give aspiring and existing footballers in Cork the best platform on which to showcase and develop their talent, and we look forward to working with all strands of the game on Leeside to make the most of this opportunity.”

For more artists' impressions and details about the new Centre of Excellence, see Tuesday's Irish Examiner