The official opening ceremony for Colliers Park, the new National Football Development Centre in Wrexham, North Wales, took place on Sunday 22nd of September.
Dignitaries from the Football Association of Wales (FAW), including FAW CEO Jonathan Ford, Cymru Coach Rob Page and FAW President Kieran O’Connor, were joined by principal project partners and supporters from UEFA, Welsh Government, Wrexham County Borough Council and Wrexham Glyndwr University, to celebrate the opening of the national facility.
Prior to the opening ceremony, members of the FAW joined the ‘North Wales Miner’s Association Trust & Friends of Gresford Colliery Disaster Memorial’ at the memorial service held at ‘Miner’s Wheel Memorial’ in Pandy, to pay tribute to those who lost their lives and were affected by the tragedy which happened on the morning of Saturday, 22nd September 1934.
Based on the site of Gresford Colliery, the high-class training facilities at Colliers Park include; two grass pitches, a 3G pitch, in addition to activation areas, learning suites and changing facilities.
The facilities at Colliers Park have recently been tested by the Wales National Senior Men’s & U21 squads ahead of their UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers and UEFA Euro 2021 qualifiers respectively, in addition to hosting a UEFA U15 Development Tournament and the 2019 Cymru Cup.
The National Football Development Centre will benefit Welsh football both nationally and locally, offering improved development, recruitment and participation opportunities for talented young boys and girls and the wider football workforce in North Wales.
Football Association of Wales CEO, Jonathan Ford said, “The FAW was founded in Wrexham in 1876 and it is fantastic to see the new National Football development centre based in an area of Wales with an important and rich football history and to celebrate this with our project partners here today.
“We look forward to Colliers Park complementing the work at Dragon Park to help raise the standards of Welsh football and strengthen our player pathway, coaching, workforce and development opportunities”.
