Brighton & Hove Albion’s women’s teams have moved into a brand-new facility at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre, the result of a £8.5million investment in world-class training facilities.
The team underwent their first training session on one of the new additional pitches on Wednesday, and will benefit from, amongst other facilities: a brand new gym, medical centre, state-of-the-art changing area and recovery facility.
Chairman Tony Bloom said, “We are delighted to have opened the new building at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre.
“It provides the women’s teams with unrivalled, world-class facilities and underpins our ambitions for the club on the pitch.
“We are also extremely grateful for the continued support from American Express as part of their partnership with the club which began an amazing ten years ago.”
Deputy chairman and chief executive Paul Barber added, “This is another significant long-term investment in the club by Tony Bloom.
“On behalf of all at the club and our supporters I thank Tony for yet another generous contribution to Brighton & Hove Albion.
“I also would like to echo Tony’s comments and thank American Express for their continued backing, and we are very proud to see their name upon the new building.
“We are also extremely grateful to both the Football Foundation, for their support in the form of a £1million grant; and also to the late Paul Whelch and his family, who made a generous and significant contribution from his estate in support of the new facility.
“Paul was founder of Seagulls Over London and member of the Falmer For All team who supported the club in the quest for planning permission for the American Express Community Stadium, and we have plans to honour his contribution later this season.”
American Express vice president Beverly Sawyers said, “Our long-term partnership with the club is built on shared values including a commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as specific investment in women’s and girls’ football.
“Sponsorship of the women’s team and nurturing female talent is an important part of this commitment, and our backing of the training ground supports this. As does our work with the girls’ football programme, run in partnership with Albion in the Community.
“It’s been exciting to be a part of the women’s team’s meteoric rise to the FA Women’s Super League and these outstanding new state-of-the-art facilities will go a long way towards helping them achieve their ambitions for the future. We’re excited to see what’s next in their incredible journey.”
The new facility will house the women’s first-team, academy and staff, as well as providing a changing facility for Albion in the Community’s community pitch.