Soccerdome on its way to Southend

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Matt Mundy reports on an exciting new development…

Southend United have invested £2million on the largest indoor training facility in Europe.

The Shrimpers have purchased the former London Soccerdome, which was based in Greenwich, in a huge signal of intent in the growth of the football club.

Following the closure of the dome last month, the Blues have moved quickly to secure the structure which covers two full-size pitches to allow first-team and academy players along with local school kids the opportunity of training in a first-class facility.

Southend chairman Ron Martin told the Southend Evening Echo of his delight at the prospect of improving the club’s facilities in the hope of upgrading the academy status from category three to category two.

“It will put us in the position of being one of the strongest academies outside of the Premier League.” Martin claimed.

“That’s where I have always said the future of the club lies – we must bring young talent through. This is an investment into the football club, it’s not about revenue generation.”

The purpose-built football centre opened in 2005 and originally operated as the David Beckham academy.

Beckham eventually backed out in 2009 and it then became the Soccerdome, serving as a state-of-the-art facility for the Premier League academy tournament, supporting upcoming coaches taking their badges and charity events.

However, the purchase may come as a shock to most Southend fans following the recent financial difficulties which started when the club suffered relegation down the leagues from the Championship in 2007 and League 1 in 2010.

The instability at the Essex club has also delayed the club’s new 22,000-seater stadium since 2006 when planning was approved, and many fans have doubted Martin’s uncompromising belief of the stadium being built.

But the Southend chairman was adamant the good news won’t disrupt the stadium plans further, but instead go “hand-in-hand”.

Shrimpers manager Phil Brown was also delighted at the news, adding he is unsure when it will be open for business.

“I think it’s fantastic news for the football club.

“I’ve spoken to a few other managers and coaches in the game and they’ve all said it’s fantastic so I think it’s a very exciting development for the football club.

“I’m not sure when it’s going up but when it does it’s going to brilliant and it will be a huge boost for us.”

Head of youth Ricky Duncan echoed the views of both Martin and Brown, eager to add to the list of players off the Southend production line.

Jack Payne and sought-after goalkeeper Dan Bentley are two who have recently made the jump to the first team from an already established youth set-up, with Duncan eyeing more in the future.

“An indoor training facility is the biggest thing we need to move up to category two so this is fantastic and I was over the moon when I heard about it,” said Duncan.

“If we can make the step up then it will give us a much better games programme against clubs from a higher level and it will definitely help with the recruitment of players as well.”

The dome, which has been dismantled since leaving its Greenwich base as part of planned redevelopment of the Greenwich Peninsula, is due to arrive at the Shrimpers training ground within the next 48 hours.

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