Celtic’s Barrowfield Training Complex appears ready to open for business in three to four weeks.
Situated between London Road and the banks of the River Clyde the new complex includes a full sized indoor pitch which will provide full training facilities all year round.
While the still to be named complex is apparently dedicated for use of the B and Ladies team it would only be natural if first team training is relocated from Lennoxtown at the bleakest points in winter.
The Barrowfield site has been used as a training base since the fifties, there are famous images of the Lisbon Lions jogging the half mile from Celtic Park to Barrowfield where a couple of grass pitches were in use behind the Celtic Supporters Association club.
There had been talks about upgrading those facilities but in 2007 Celtic build a brand new purpose built facility at Lennoxtown.
Over the years the limitations of that complex became obvious, it was on an isolated and bleak location facing the Campsies.
The lack of an adequate indoor training area has long been a problem, two years ago they club decided to turn the indoor area, around one third the size of a pitch into a state of the art gymnasium which met with the approval of the players.
Barrowfield for B and Ladies Teams?
While improved training facilities will help the B team and Ladies side they are both still playing their ‘home’ fixtures of artificial surfaces. The B team at Airdrie and the Ladies at Hamilton.
Having a mini stadium included at Barrowfield, even if it had a stand for just two or three thousand fans would have been a benefit but it seems that traffic issues were among the objections raised.
Celtic’s Academy remains tied in to an education programme with St Ninian’s in Kirkintilloch which involves training sessions at Lennoxtown.
The future direction of the B team remains unclear, after four seasons in the Lowland League it is obvious that that route isn’t producing anyone capable of even being a first team squad member.
Top scorer Daniel Cummings looks like following Rocco Vata and Daniel Kelly to England during the close season, expecting the 5th/6th tier of Scottish football to produce future first team players is wholly unrealistic.
The club has invested heavily in work at the Barrowfield site but beyond facilities a pathway needs to be found to start filtering players into the first team squad.
In September 2023 Celtic announced
Celtic Football Club is delighted to announce that it has today approved significant investment into a state-of-the-art re-development of Celtic’s Barrowfield Training Centre, in the heart of the East End of Glasgow, as we aim to continue to create Celtic’s stars of the future.
The development will deliver a fantastic new complex, hosting Celtic’s boys’ and girls’ Academies and will also be the new dedicated training centre for Celtic FC Women’s First Team.
Today’s announcement re-emphasises our strategy of maintaining a strong commitment to both developing our own players and investing in women’s football, with the project representing the largest infrastructure investment by the Club since the redevelopment of Celtic Park in the late 1990s.
The new training centre will feature:
New indoor arena, featuring full-sized IFA-approved artificial surface
Combination of outdoor natural grass and artificial pitches
State-of-the-art gym/fitness facilities
Celtic Academy and Celtic FC Women office areas
New changing facilities
Medical suites for player treatment/rehab
Sports science centre
Analysis centre
Classroom/learning facilities
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