With work starting on the St George’s Park development in March, the plans to improve English football at all levels is well underway, but it’s not just a set of football pitches. In February, Gareth Southgate was appointed as the FA’s new head of elite development, and he’s directly involved with St George’s Park and the work that it will do for the game. We spoke to him recently about what the new centre hopes to achieve.

What does your role with the FA involve?

‘My role at the moment is to implement a lot of the plans that the development team have come up with, and that is an 18-month role. So, the end of that should coincide with the opening of St George’s Park, and so my role once its up and running has yet to be decided. But at the moment it’s looking at what’s going to go in there from a football perspective. There’s so much going on in terms of the hotel, the medical centre, but of course we need some technical football people to have an input into that side of things.’

Is that the people that are going to be doing the coaching then?

‘That is part of the review of all our coaching that’s constantly being updated, but it’s also about the physical facilities at the centre. We need to make sure that certain things are there from a football point of view, the quality of the pitches for example, the equipment, the logistics of the dressing rooms, it all needs to be decided.’

It must be exciting to be involved in such a significant project at an early stage?

‘Well, I would say that I’m lucky that I wasn’t involved at an early stage, as this has been a ten year project! For a lot of people, this has been a long and difficult road, and it’s great that we’ve got the go-ahead to do it now. Lots of people have put years into these ideas, and it’s very exciting to come in and be involved now.

As a former England international, if I was playing now and turning up at a national football centre as either a senior or junior international, I would have been very proud and felt better about myself as a player. Rather than staying in a random hotel that could be anywhere in the country, you’ll have a sense of belonging here that’s very important. From a coach’s point of view, when I did the coaching awards that I’ve got, they were done in various universities around the country, and again if you were going to a national centre you’d feel like you were part of something very special. To have that home for everyone is so important as we move forward.’

Is part of the aim of the centre to bring everyone together?

‘Definitely. There will be occasions when the under-17s are training there at the same time as the senior team for example, and that’s an inspiration for those younger players who can learn from the first team.’

What is the ultimate goal for St George’s Park?

‘That it’ll be an inspirational venue for English football. That includes elements of it that are community based, there’ll be pitches that the local community can use, and it’s a place that people will aspire to go to. It’ll have top class facilities, world class training facilities, and it’s a really healthy step forward for us all.’

Thanks to Gareth for taking the time to speak to us about St George’s Park. We’ll have more on the centre and the work it’s going to do as the project develops, so keep your eyes peeled!