Darsley Park
Encyclopedia
Newcastle United Training Centre, more commonly known as "Darsley Park" is the training ground of Premier League club Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

. It lies next door to the Northumberland Football Association
Northumberland Football Association
The Northumberland Football Association is the governing body of football in the county of Northumberland, England. The Association was formed in 1883 and is responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county.-History:...

 base at Whitley Park, North Tyneside
North Tyneside
The Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England and is part of the Tyneside conurbation. Its seat is Wallsend Town Hall....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Since July 2003 Newcastle United's first team have trained at the purpose-built centre. The academy train in a separate facility at Little Benton
Little Benton
Little Benton is a small suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, which holds two modern housing estates along with the site of Newcastle United's academy base. Little Benton's full list of amenities begins and ends at a Post Box...

, south of Darsley Park.

The complex comprises four buildings: the main building which houses the main reception, changing rooms, managerial offices, meeting rooms, gym, physiotherapy, restaurant and a recreation area. Adjacent to this is the laundry area where all the strips and training gear are taken care of. Next to it is the indoor pitch, a full-size pitch with a rubber-based astroturf, called FieldTurf
FieldTurf
FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...

, shielded from the elements by a tough canvas covering. Finally there is the green-keepers' building.

The facility is open to locally-based sports teams, including the Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle Falcons
The Newcastle Falcons is an English rugby union team currently playing in the Aviva Premiership. The club was established in 1877 and played under the name of Gosforth Football Club until 1990. The name was then changed to Newcastle Gosforth and the club began to play at Kingston Park stadium in...

 rugby team who use the indoor facility to train when bad weather renders their Kingston Park
Kingston Park
Kingston Park is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, about north west of the city centre. It is home to several large retailers, the largest being one of Tesco's flagship stores—at 11,055 square metres which is also the largest supermarket in the UK...

pitches unplayable.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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