Football stars who graduated from Coventry City Football Club’s Academy returned to the facility where they began their careers to celebrate its striking new renovation.
England international James Maddison was joined by Academy graduates Jordan Willis, Jordan Shipley and Tom Bayliss to mark the official opening of the new 3,150 square metre indoor sports facility at the Alan Higgs Centre.
As part of major improvements to the Alan Higgs Centre for Coventry and Warwickshire Awards Trust (CAWAT), Rubb UK has supplied a state-of-the-art 47.5m wide x 67m long football training facility, which will be used by the local community, schools and Coventry City Football Academy.
The Alan Higgs Centre is operated by CV Life, which provides a wide range of sporting, recreational, educational and social activities to community groups and individuals within Coventry. The centre has recently undergone a £13.5m refurbishment which includes an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a newly resurfaced outdoor 3G pitch, which sits alongside the new Rubb indoor football training facility.
The Rubb super structure is designed to accommodate a FIFA standard 60m x 40m football pitch with a run-off perimeter. This is surrounded by 2.4m high internal rebound boards and a divisional and ball stopping netting system. The pitch specification is the latest SISTurf Soccer Pro 50 synthetic including 15mm insitu shock pad, creating the best surface and training environment to help bright young stars to progress.
Richard Stevens, Coventry City Football Club Academy Manager, commented “The facility will provide academy players with the opportunity to practice in a fantastic facility, the design and build is really impressive, and we have already enjoyed working in the indoor over the last few months. A big thank you must also go to the Coventry and Warwickshire awards trust for developing this outstanding facility.”
The structure stands 12.9m high at its apex and comprises a galvanized steel frame to protect it against corrosion and a white translucent PVC-clad roof to allow natural daylight to illuminate the playing area. Completing the building specification is sidewall steel cladding, specialised sport lighting with motion sensors, large sidewall gutter systems, eight fresh air louvres and multiple access doors and equipment doors.
This training facility is Rubb’s latest specialist structure in the sports sector. Other highlights include Sunderland AFC’s, Newcastle United’s and West Bromwich Albion’s indoor football training facilities.
