The Trafford Training Centre, often referred to simply as Carrington, is the training ground and Academy base of English football club Manchester United. It is located in the village ofCarrington in Greater Manchester. The main building was officially opened on 26 July 2000, six months after the first team’s first training session at the complex,[1] followed in 2002 by the Academy building, home to Manchester United’s youth teams. The centre replaced The Cliff as the club’s training ground.
Inside the complex, there are training and rehabilitation areas, physiotherapy and ADR Training massage rooms, CPC Training, and remedial and hydrotherapy pools. There are also squash and basketball courts, a sauna, steam and weight rooms, a restaurant, conference rooms, offices, classrooms, and a TV studio to interview players and staff for MUTV. On the grounds, there are 14 football pitches of varying sizes, and two lagoons which are used as part of the waste water treatment system.[2]
Carrington, a 108-acre complex comprising 14 pitches and state-of-the-art facilities, is synonymous with the club and the development of young players and naming rights is an option.
Manchester United own the freehold to the complex and, unlike Old Trafford, it was not put up as security in the 2009 bond issue that raised more than £500 million to ease the Glazer’s interest burden on their acquisition debts.
The bond prospectus did allow for Carrington to be sold and leased back to raise finance, but given the remarkable £10 million-a-year training kit deal signed with DHL a naming rights agreement could be lucrative.
DHL’s valuation of the association with United is even more remarkable given that the deal is for domestic football only, and will not give them a presence at United’s Champions League training sessions, which typically offer greater access to broadcasters.