WARRINGTON Town have taken a big step towards a future in full-time football by securing a permanent training base within the town.
The Guardian can reveal that, after months of negotiations, a deal has been struck between Town and Warrington Sports Club for Yellows to train at Walton Lea.
Members of Warrington Sports Club, which is also home to the likes of Warrington Cricket Club and Warrington RUFC as well as squash and archery clubs, have voted unanimously in favour of accepting Paul Carden’s side as members and the team have been holding sessions there since starting their pre-season programme last Tuesday.
Warrington Sports Club - Warrington Town's new permanent training base
Yellows chairman Toby Macormac says the kind of grass training facility their new base can provide is a rare commodity in the town but now that is secure, they can look to the future.
“It’s a great step forward for us,” he said.
“It’s been something I’ve been working on for more than 12 months now so to finally get the deal across the line is a really positive step.
“A grass training facility is what everybody wants and it’s difficult to think of anywhere else in the town that would give us that.
“We trained previously in Skelmersdale, which was a trip for the lads and it was difficult finding a slot.
“Now we have a great training time and the grass surface attracts a different kind of player.
“There’s a lot of possibilities here. I had one foot in the future when I did this deal.
“The natural step is going down the hybrid training model and eventually the full-time route.
“You can’t do that unless you’ve got somewhere permanent to train and do something with.
“To get a base we can call our own and a partnership with Warrington Sports Club is great for us.”
Yellows players being put through their paces at Walton Lea
Town had been training on artificial surfaces at JMO Sportspark in Skelmersdale in recent times, with Orford Park also used for some sessions.
Carden believes having access to Walton Lea could give them a critical advantage when the new BetVictor Premier Division season starts next month.
“Before I came to Warrington, the clubs I’d been at had their own training facility and a base,” he said.
“We’ve been training at JMO, which has been good and has served a purpose for what it was, but we were limited with time.
“When you come here and you see the surface and environment, it makes you want to train.
“It’s about taking the club forward and moving things on and this is a big part of that.
“In terms of grass facilities, I don’t think there will be many clubs at our level who can call on them.
“In some ways, it does give us that advantage of training on what we play on more often than not.
“It’s up to us now to make sure we make it count.”
Yellows' 2019/20 fixtures are released at 6pm tonight. The full schedule will be on the website immediately after the release
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