Leicester City arranges a special training site tour for dedicated fans, making for a unique and enjoyable visit to Seagrave.

Louise Hollingsworth works in supporter events at Leicester City, and while I’ve never seen her in person, I’ve been in regular touch with her since 2016. A Messenger call to her was responded with “Good news, Sören, you are scheduled for a guided tour of Seagrave at 11:00 on Sunday, and your guide will be Ally Mauchlen.” We were driven there by our friend Kev Hall, who was also allowed on a special tour of Leicester City’s stunning Seagrave training facilities.

From 1985 until 1992, Scotsman Alistair “Ally” Mauchlen played 239 games for Leicester City. After several adventures, he returned “home” to Leicestershire in 2011 and is currently collaborating with John Hutchinson and Elsie Flynn on what will become the club’s museum. He also leads people at Seagrave, which is not a huge thing right now. Our event was one of the few he conducted with such a tiny audience. His Scottish accent was simple to understand, and he gave generously of himself. He was clearly amazed by the facility. He stated that no cost had been spared in the search of “the best training facility”. The facility was budgeted for 1.1 billion Swedish kronor, but the final amount was 1.4 billion!

The facility is known as the King Power Center and is located near Seagrave, not far from Barrow Upon Soar and a few miles north of Leicester. Work on the facility began in the spring of 2019, and everything was expected to be finished by the start of the 2020/21 season. However, a virus entered the picture, and the first training session could not be held until Christmas Day 2020.

The facility cost 1.4 billion to create and is widely regarded as the world’s greatest training facility. Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha committed to continue in his father’s footsteps and uphold Khun Vichai’s commitments to the club and supporters. Dad’s vision for Leicester City was predicated on long-term commitment, which included the construction of this training complex.

In the early 1960s, Leicester City trained at Filbert Street. When winters were harsh, players may be ankle-deep in muck. They rehearsed in the parking lot behind the main stand on such occasions so that the field would be nearly playable by Saturday. The goalkeepers, commanded by Gordon Banks, refused to fling themselves on the asphalt, so the team exercised without them. By the end of 1963, shoe business Stead & Simpson had accepted a £17,000 proposal for their sports pitch at Belvoir Drive, giving City its first proper training site. However, the facility was not very opulent. The structures were unstable, the windows were shattered, and there was no access to showers. So they assembled on Filbert Street, dressed in training gear, and went to Belvoir Drive to workout. After training, you needed to return to Filbert Street to shower.

The facility was renovated throughout time, and following the club’s success in the 1990s, it received a significant investment. Belvoir Drive was regarded as one of England’s premier training facilities at the time. With the arrival of King Power, more money was poured into Belvoir Drive, including cryotherapy chambers and grassmaster technology on the training grounds. However, the incident had a negative impact on the entire institution. Belvoir Drive is located in a residential neighborhood with double parking on the streets around. It’s congested and tight, and the traffic surrounding the region is chaotic. Not the best site for a club with goals. So King Power, then led by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, developed a new cutting-edge training center.

A suitable location was located, and in January 2018, Leicester City acquired Park Hill Golf Club to develop their facility there. Nine of the golf club’s 18 holes have been saved, allowing players and leaders to enjoy their own private golf course. In addition to the golf course, there are currently over 21 practice fields, 11 of which are full size. In addition, there is a match field with 500 seats, where primarily young teams compete.

The complex consists of seven buildings, with the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha structure serving as the primary structure and administrative headquarters. The facility also features training facilities, a cutting-edge gym, hydrotherapy, cryotherapy, numerous swimming pools, a sauna, entertainment spaces, a lecture hall, a café, and 50 guestrooms known as “the hotel”.

The King Power Center is an indoor arena and media center. It is shaped like a dome, fully air-conditioned, with artificial turf and the ability to accommodate visitors. They also operate a school called the “Sports Turf Academy” that trains future generations of pitch managers and develops innovative materials for playing and training pitches. The former training facility on Belvoir Drive, which had served Leicester City for over 60 years, is now home to LCFC Women.

Ally greeted us at the academy’s welcome, and we quickly noticed that there is a distinction between players and players. The academy boasts excellent facilities, including a gym that outperforms most, but the facilities for the A team are much better. The dining hall is separated into two areas: one for academy players and one for the main team. When academy youngsters look at the first team section, they naturally think, “That’s where I want to go”. The division encourages academy players to give their all in order to “switch sides”. Another intriguing aspect of visiting Seagrave is that the first team facilities and car lot are fully disguised, in order to protect the first team as much as possible.

The facility’s ground level features gyms, saunas, pools, and other amenities. The enormous warm pool is only for fun, but next to it is the “horse pool,” where players are immersed in flowing water and may run with just the proper amount of resistance for a very light workout.

We also got to view the cryo room, where players spend one minute and thirty seconds at negative 136 degrees! Jamie Vardy has one of his own at his home, and he spares no money! Training fields are also accessible from the bottom floor.

The academy and first team training programs are separated by a fence, but they are so near that if the academy coach notices a player performing very well, he can transfer him to the main team. All pitches are laid up exactly like the King Power Stadium. The surface structure, heating system, grass, and pitch hardness are exactly identical to those at the King Power Stadium, all to decrease player wear and tear.

The “hotel” that the players stay at is also extremely good. Danny Ward has room one, since the players are assigned rooms based on their jersey numbers. However, Captain Vardy no longer possesses room nine; he has abandoned it and now resides in room eight. The basic answer is that Room 8 has a superior view than Room 9. We were allowed to see into one of the rooms, which is shown in the image as room 16.

All rooms have the same temperature, 19.5 degrees. The term “hotel” is used frequently because the club does not want the players to get into their automobiles and drive home in the middle of the night after an away game. When it comes to “young rich guys with fast cars, in the middle of the night, it can be dangerous” .

The indoor pitch in the “court” is mostly used by younger teams; the first team only utilizes it when the weather outside is too terrible. When we went to Seagrave, there were three or four games going on on the smaller grounds. U8, U9, and U11 teams competed against, among others, Wolverhampton.

After an hour (which felt like five minutes), the film concluded, and we thanked Ally Mauchlen before returning to “town.” Nobody said anything, but we sat inside and grinned; what other Premier League team would do this for two Swedes and an Englishman for free? Once again, Leicester City has demonstrated that they are the supporters’ team, the Leicester City family!

Thank you to Sören Filipsson for this account of his visit to Seagrave a week ago. Sören is one of perhaps 250 diehard Scandinavian Leicester supporters. From his home in Hallsberg, Sören runs his own unique Leicester City fan section, Blue Army Sweden. Visit their site to learn about their passion to this magnificent football team.

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