The future’s blue Artist’s impressions of how Manchester City’s Etihad Campus will look if the council – and public – approve the plans
This is how Manchester City’s Etihad Campus will look under plans to build a host of community facilities on the site.
A sixth-form college, sports science institute and leisure centre all form part of the proposals. They are being built thanks to massive investment by the football club in the area around its stadium.
The facilities for residents will go up alongside a new football academy and training complex for the Blues.
The new images are part of the latest ‘masterplan’ for the area, which is being redeveloped by Manchester council and regeneration company New East Manchester in partnership with the football club.
Proposals for ‘The Beswick Project’ include creating a footbridge across Alan Turing Way and pedestrianising part of Grey Mare Lane. The area will ultimately be used by up to 2,500 residents, visitors, footballers and club officials a day.
The new buildings will be created around a tree-lined circle, dubbed ‘The Circus’, spanning 16 acres across both sides of Alan Turing Way.
To the east, Connell College – a 600-place sixth form for local pupils and academy players – and the Manchester Institute of Sports Science and Sports Medicine will be built on land at the corner of the club’s academy site. To the west there will be shops and a leisure centre – including a swimming pool funded by the football club as well as a dance studio, rugby union pitch and community sports space.
Those facilities will be built alongside East Manchester Academy, St Bridgid’s RC primary school and Beswick Library.
Grey Mare Lane market will be pulled down to make way for the leisure centre and stallholders helped to find pitches elsewhere.
A new House of Sport, containing offices for sports’ governing bodies, will be built on the refurbished site of Grey Mare Lane police station.
The developments, together with the football academy, will bring more than 550 jobs to the area.
Shops currently near East Manchester Academy will be relocated to the new units on Alan Turing Way. A car park will be built in their place.
Around 200 yards of Grey Mare Lane, between Bell Crescent and the school, will be pedestrianised to avoid rat-runs.
Bus stops will be created on Alan Turing Way and a new left turn installed opposite City’s training ground as part of efforts to smooth traffic flow.
Eddie Smith, chief executive of New East Manchester, said: "We wanted to bring together all these assets into one location and create a real focal point for east Manchester. This will be the community front door to the training ground."
Mr Smith said the views of residents would be ‘critical’ to the final look and cost of the scheme. Funding discussions are taking place with Sport England. The council and Manchester City have been building their plans for the area – one of the most deprived in Britain– since March 2010.
The latest proposals will go before Manchester council’s executive next week. If endorsed, they will then go to public consultation with a view to submitting planning applications by the end of the year and getting the go-ahead for work to begin early in 2013.
Connell College – named after the Blues’ founding family – will open as a free school in September 2014. The football academy plans to launch in the 2014/15 season. The wider site and community facilities are earmarked for completion by early 2015.
Jim Battle, deputy leader of Manchester council, said: "These are exciting proposals from which the community will see real benefits. We look forward to sharing the details with residents and other interested parties."
[strike]'Injured' Aguero ready for Argentina duty in move that will infuriate Mancini
Sergio Aguero has risked upsetting Roberto Mancini by putting himself forward for international duty with Argentina even though he is not fit enough to play for Manchester City.
Aguero has been out of action since the opening weekend of the season when he was carried off against Southampton after twisting his right knee.
However, having ruled out the possibility of his £38million record signing joining up with Argentina for their World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru, Mancini relented and allowed Aguero to travel to Buenos Aires where he promptly declared his intention to try and play in the second game next Tuesday.
'I'm here until Peru,' said Aguero on his arrival at Ezeiza Airport. 'Today, the knee still hurts and it bothers me, but things might change in two or three days. I will see the doctors of the Argentinean FA.'
That is unlikely to go down well with Mancini who wants Aguero available again after the international break for a crucial week that sees City take on Stoke and Arsenal either side of their Champions League opener away to Real Madrid.
The Italian had already criticised FIFA’s 'ridiculous' rules that enabled Argentina to call up his player, and was emphatic on Friday that Aguero would not travel.
'No, absolutely not,' said Mancini. 'He stays here and will continue to work because we need him to recover well.'
It echoes a similar issue in October when Argentina activated their right to have Aguero make a 14,000-mile round trip for games against Chile and Venezuela even though he was not fit enough to play because of a groin injury.
However, City have been at pains to stay on good terms with the South Americans and also respect Aguero’s wishes to avoid a conflict between club and country
It is understood that the two sets of doctors are in contact over the knee injury and City are confident that no unnecessary risks will be taken with Aguero’s fitness.[/strike]
MANCINI: NO BUTTS MARIO
All options are on the table to help Mario give up smoking altogether – counselling and even hypnotherapy
Fuming Roberto Mancini wants his madcap striker to see a hypnotherapist to help him finally kick the habit.
The Manchester City boss believes that a combination of hypnosis and counselling will do the trick after being told by medical staff that Balotelli’s smoking could have worsened his recent eye problems.
The £24m hitman will undergo laser surgery this week after suffering an allergic reaction to his contact lenses. He has been
forced to miss the start of the Premier League season and faces at least another two weeks on the sidelines.
Mancini is without striker Sergio Aguero due to a knee problem and will try anything to get Balotelli back in action.
A club source told Starsport: “Mario has caused a stir again, this time because they say the smoke coming from his fags is making his eye condition even worse.
“Everyone is aware of Mario’s habit but after a conversation with the manager last season, it was thought he had cut down.
“It cannot be considered a quirk anymore, especially now he is going to miss training and potentially a couple of matches. He is lacking match fitness as it is following his extended break due to Euro 2012.
“All options are on the table to help Mario give up smoking altogether – counselling and even hypnotherapy.”
Mancini thought Balotelli had the habit under control, but was fuming last week when pictures emerged of the 22-year-old smoking in the early hours of the morning.
Shilton: Hart will break my record
Peter Shilton believes Joe Hart will beat his own record of 125 England caps, but fears it could take England 10 years to bring through the next crop of youngsters to make the national team a force to be reckoned with.
With the influx of foreign talent, England mangers have had fewer choices when it has come to the selection of goalkeepers. Hart, though, has cemented his place, and Shilton says if he continues to work at his game he has enough time on his side to surpass his record mark.
Shilton, talking in a new book 'England Centurions' to be launched at Wembley for the World Cup tie with Ukraine, has some sound advice on the eve of Englands opening qualifying tie in Moldova on Friday.
"Joe Hart has done really well, he is still only young, he is still improving, he needs to continue to improve and he needs to work hard at his game.
"What I like about him is that he seems to want to improve and wands to work hard at his game, which he will need to do. He has stepped in and stabalised the England goalkeeping situation which has been a little up and down over recent years, and to be fair riddled with inconsistency.
"I had high hopes of Ben Foster for example but he doesn't seem to have risen to the challenge, but again to be fair it isn't easy stepping up a big level to the England team.
"But Joe has showed a lot of confidence and has started to grow into the position, and if he does work and continues to improve than he can stay the No1 for many years to come.
"He needs to be pushed, he needs to be kept on his toes, because England are relying on him at a time when there isn't a great deal of strength in depth with England goalkeepers, and to be fair there hasn't been any strength in depth now for many years which has been very worrying for the national team.
"My feeling is that you have to go back some time to find English goalkeepers in the Premier League with the technical ability, these days it is more about agility and reflexes than technical know how, and that worries me. The techniques, the real art of goalkeeping has disappeared," said Shilton.
Shilton believes that Hart has the talent and application to reach 100 caps or more but he warned: "Yes, that is possible. It is even possible he can reach my total of caps, but there is an awful long way to go, and I was lucky with injuries and he would have to be the same. Loss of form or injuries are the big hazards ahead of any goalkeeper. But, he is definitely young enough to have a very long international career.
"You can never tell, but I think he has a very good chance. He is at the right age, and there isn't a lot of challenge to his position at the moment."
As for the England team as a whole, Shilton has deep concerns, saying: "The team did OK in the European Championships, but there were obviously a few sides better than England.
"The hope is that in one or two years time that some good, outstanding young players come through and develop.
"How well England do in the future largely depends on how well some of the youngsters develop, because the England team has got to improve quite a bit, as England are clearly behind on their techniques still with quite a lot of teams such as Spain, and even Italy we were not quite as good technically.
"We really do need to improve in the next ten years and I am afraid it could take ten years to get it right. I hope it can be achieved in half that time, but we have got to look at how we are developing the skills and techniques of the right, nine, ten year olds who might one day make it all the way into the national team. If we do it earlier was have to rely on the likes of young players such as Wilshere, and here is a player I do rate highly but we need more of the same, and its not going to happen overnight, so yes, it could take ten years
"For the short term, the England team needs a genuine out and out goalscorer. Wayne Rooney is not quite that sort of player, not an out an out goalscorer, such as say Gary Lineker, and goalscoring like that is an art form, and more recently we had Michael Owen, and before him Alan Shearer, they are the players I would call goalscorers, and we are a little light in that department relying far too much on Rooney.
"I am sure he can still develop for England the way he has for Manchester United, and he is the nearest we have at the moment to a goalscorer. I imagine Roy Hodgson has his work cut out, and he might need a miracle to find an over night solution, however I think its going to take quite a while for England to be a force to be reckoned with.'
OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United made a £38m bid for Brazil star Neymar on transfer deadline day but the 20-year-old wanted to stay at Santos until after his country host the 2014 World Cup. The Sun
Liverpool are rumoured to be set to make a shock move for former Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero, 37.
Alessandro Del Piero left Juventus after 19 years with the Italian giants in May talkShiT
However, Australian A-League side Sydney FC are also reportedly set to announce they have signed the Italian World Cup winner. The Australian
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was prepared to swap midfielder Jordan Henderson, winger Stewart Downing or left-back Jose Enrique to land Fulham striker Clint Dempsey, who instead moved to Tottenham. Variou
Arsenal are understood to have offered Andrey Arshavin a free transfer in the hope that the 31-year-old midfielder will finally find a new club before the Russian transfer window closes on Thursday, with Dynamo Moscow the favourites for his signature. Daily Telegraph
Tottenham Hotspur and Porto submitted an agreed deal sheet for Joao Moutinho, 25, on deadline day but a third party with a stake in the Portuguese midfielder is reported to have scuppered the deal. Guardian
Newcastle will try again to sign winger Tom Ince, 20, from Blackpool in January after having a £4m bid rejected. Daily Mirror
Lyon have asked Chelsea to name their price for out-of-favour Blues winger Florent Malouda, 32. Metro
England striker Andy Carroll, 23, faces six weeks out with the hamstring injury he suffered in his first game for West Ham after joining the Upton Park club on loan from Liverpool. Daily Mail
In extracts from his new book, Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney says that being dropped by manager Sir Alex Ferguson was a tough lesson. Daily Mirror
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood admits the Gunners cannot compete in the transfer market with Chelsea and Manchester City. London Evening Standard
Liverpool supporters' group Spirit of Shankly have called on American owners Fenway Sports Group to appoint a Liverpool-based chief executive. Liverpool Echo
Double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah has urged his beloved Arsenal to sign him up as their fitness coach when his athletics career comes to an end. Metro
more bollox soon ...
