League Two club Bury is punching well above its weight after agreeing to lease Manchester City’s former training ground at Carrington from March 1.
It represents a great move for the ambitious Shakers whose existing facility at Lower Gigg Lane had only one pitch, which severely limited Bury’s options in developing youth players, according to the club.
Carrington, which was recently vacated by the Premier League champions when they relocated to a new facility in East Manchester, will become the training base of David Flitcroft’s promotion-chasing side for the next five years.
The lease agreement covers the whole 22-acre site which will accommodate the needs of all of the club’s players from the youngest academy intake right through to the first team and includes six top-of-the-range full turf pitches, an artificial pitch, fitness, medical and performance analysis suites and various changing rooms and multi-purpose offices.
Shakers chairman Stewart Day said: “We are thrilled to have reached this agreement with Manchester City, particularly given the keen interest in a number of parties in leasing the site.
“The facility at Carrington is out of this world and it was an opportunity that we simply could not turn down.
“It is within easy reach of the Bury area, being situated so close to the Greater Manchester ring road, and crucially enables us to fulfil our vision of having our academy team from under-8s up, playing together at the same time.
“Whilst we will have fond memories and attachments to our Lower Gigg base, the centre was not sufficient to support our long term ambitions.”
“Being able to have a Premier League standard training facility as our base is a signal of our very real intent to provide our staff and players of all ages with the optimum facilities to support their development and training.”