Deal signed to move Villa training ground
CONTRACTORS have been appointed to relocate Aston Villa’s training ground to make way for high-speed rail line HS2.
O’Brien has secured the multimillion-pound brief to relocate Bodymoor Heath near Tamworth to create nine pitches and one 3G pitch.
The idea is to move all the academy pitches and two first team pitches which will be lost once construction of the highspeed rail development begins.
The first phase of HS2 will call at a station near the airport before running through the areas east and north-east of Birmingham and onto a new terminal in Curzon Street in the city centre.
HS2 will pass directly through the south-east corner of Bodymoor Heath, which was recently renamed The Recon Training Complex, and is expected to be a major disruption for the club’s academy and first team.
Tony Mitchell, operations manager at O’Brien, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by Aston Villa to help relocate their new training facility.
“The HS2 scheme will have a major impact locally and on the Recon training facility, which will lose a large portion of the current training ground.
“The project is part of the greater plan to allow the football club to maintain existing facilities and replace those affected by HS2.
“We plan to make this transition as simple as possible for Aston Villa and help to create an outstanding new facility for them that will ensure the future of the training academy is not threatened by HS2.”
Work is set to be completed by September.