Football club bids to expand its academy site
A professional football club has applied for permission to expand its academy.
Mansfield Town opened the Radford & Hymas training facility in Woburn Lane, Pleasley, in 2016, and in 2023 it bought more land nearby from Nottinghamshire County Council to expand onto.
Now the Stags have bid to build an indoor training pitch and outdoor pitch with lighting, a sports hall and gym building, and two new car parks.
In documents sent to planning authority Mansfield District Council, the club said the expansion would enable it to welcome new youngsters and tackle "problematic" car parking.
At the time the club purchased the 5.5 acre (22,257sq m) site for an undisclosed sum, it said more than 300 children used the facility each week and it supported more than 70 students on apprenticeships and further education at West Notts College and Nottingham Trent University.
But it said this had led to "problematic" parking at evenings and weekends.
In the planning application, HMS Town Planning and Design said the extra facilities would allow the League One club to grow, support its teams at all levels, and promote healthier lifestyles in the area "as well as make optimal use of an existing facility that is operating below its potential".
Mansfield planners are consulting on the plans until 14 June, with a decision on the application expected by mid-August.
Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.
Swindon sign forward Nichols on permanent deal
Sweeney leaves Burton for Mansfield return
Akins' Mansfield future still being 'considered'
Mansfield District Council
Mansfield Town FC
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
England cricketers forced into emergency travel plans before third West Indies ODI
It was not quite a case of planes, trains and automobiles but bikes, buses and by foot after the players and staff of England and West Indies were forced to take extreme measures to negotiate traffic on the way to the third one-day international at the Oval. Related: England v West Indies: hosts chasing 252 in shortened third men's cricket ODI – live Advertisement The England and Wales Cricket Board blamed 'heavy traffic north of the river' – there was talk of broken down buses, a traffic light failure and extensive roadworks – for the delayed arrivals of both squads. England abandoned the team bus as it sat stationary midway between their Kensington hotel and the ground, completing their journey on Lime bikes, on foot or by train – Jamie Smith took the underground option, while there were confused looks from fans walking down Kensington Park Road in the direction of the ground about 45 minutes before the scheduled start, perhaps thinking they themselves were running a bit late, as Joe Root and Adil Rashid strode past them. 'We were on the bus for a while, then we all decided to get off and get on some Lime bikes,' the England captain, Harry Brook, said. The tourists stayed on their coach as it crawled the 3.5 miles from their hotel in Chelsea at sub-pedestrian pace. So, while the home side arrived later than anticipated, they still had plenty of time to go through their normal pre-match preparation of pig – a game of group keepy-uppy – and some work in the nets. Meanwhile, West Indies' arrival coincided with the scheduled time of the toss, which because of their absence had by then been pushed back by half an hour, and their preparations were so abbreviated the batters did not get a chance for a net. Brook took no pity, winning the toss and putting them in. It was not a completely unfamiliar experience for all of the England players – some of them, and most of the current coaching staff, often choose to walk to games even when there are no traffic issues, while on the tour of New Zealand last year most of the team adopted Christchurch's e-scooters.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford
Caoimhin Kelleher has joined Brentford from Liverpool for an initial fee of £12.5m that could rise to £18million ($24.3m). The 26-year-old goalkeeper has signed a five-year deal with an option of a further year. As part of this summer's transfer coverage on The Athletic, in addition to breaking news, tactical analysis and in-depth reads, our Transfers TLDR series (you can read them all here) will bring you a quick guide to each of the key deals. Cork-born Kelleher was signed by Liverpool from local club Ringmahon Rangers and relocated from the Republic of Ireland to England at 16. He worked his way up through the age groups to become a goalkeeper Jurgen Klopp described as the best No 2 in the world. No goalkeeper in Liverpool history has won more penalty shootouts (four), and he even scored in the 11-10 shootout win against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup in 2022. Kelleher played 67 times for Liverpool and won one Premier League title (he failed to make an appearance in the successful 2019-20 Premier League season), one Champions League, one FA Cup, one Super Cup and two League Cups. Caoimhe O'Neill Kelleher was built in the image of Alisson by former Liverpool goalkeeping coach John Achterberg. Expect a similar goalkeeper to the Brazil No 1. The Irishman was a striker until he was 13 and may not look as imposing as bulkier goalkeepers, but his bendy frame will pull off saves that look out of reach. Advertisement There may be the occasional blooper, but with penalties, look out for his 'smooth criminal' penalty-saving, where he falls towards the taker. Caoimhe O'Neill Kelleher is a capable shot stopper, with a 71 per cent save rate last season, marginally behind Flekken's 74 per cent. His distribution was solid, too, and he often went short from open play, as Flekken did. The key difference is their long passing. Flekken attempted 21.3 Opta-defined long passes (covering 32+ meters or 35+ yards) and completed 41 per cent. In contrast, Kelleher attempted 12.5 and completed 26 per cent. This could be due to Brentford's tactical approach, which embraces directness in comparison to Liverpool. With more minutes, Kelleher's numbers across the board are likely to improve. Anantaajith Raghuraman Kelleher's most recent injury saw him receive stitches in his knee in October 2023, though this did not lead to a lengthy layoff. He suffered a groin injury in June 2022 that sidelined him for three months and an abdominal tear in February 2021 that ruled him out for a month. Anantaajith Raghuraman 'Caoimh is cool as ice,' Achterberg told The Athletic in March 2024. 'He can play left foot, right foot; his speed reactions are crazy and he reads the game so well.' 'He was unbelievable,' his former Ringmahon team-mate Keelyn Cotter told The Athletic in 2020. 'We had a few goalkeepers in our league who were getting trials in England. The competition was fierce, but within a couple of years, he'd flown past them all. It also helped that he understood what a good striker might do because he was one himself.' Caoimhe O'Neill Kelleher has signed a five-year contract with an option for a further 12 months. He has cost Brentford £12.5million initially, potentially rising to £18m. Through joining in early June, just under a month's worth of the fee will hit Brentford's 2024-25 financials, as will four weeks of Kelleher's wages. Liverpool's most recent financial year ended on May 31, so this deal has no impact on their 2024-25 accounts. Advertisement In terms of those wages, Kelleher's new deal is unknown, though as ever, the cost of the deal will go beyond just the transfer fee and any agent costs. For Liverpool, Kelleher's departure won't make a sizeable dent in their staff costs, with the backup goalkeeper one of the lower earners in a well-paid squad. Chris Weatherspoon After adding on agent fees, assumed at 10 per cent, Kelleher's signing adds £200,000 to Brentford's transfer fee amortisation charge in 2024-25, with a further £2.7m per year then charged until the end of the 2029-30 season. The sale of Mark Flekken to Bayer Leverkusen for £8.4m generated a profit on sale of around £2.8m immediately in the club's books, more than offsetting the £200,000 amortisation added by signing Kelleher. From Liverpool's perspective, there could be a situation where they would not enjoy the full £12.5m fee. Reports in Ireland suggest Ringmahon, the club Kelleher joined Liverpool from as a 16-year-old, may be due 20 per cent of Liverpool's profit on any sale, which would mean Ringmahon would bank around £2.5m of the £12.5m fee. The Athletic has not been able to verify those reports, but if that were the case, it would leave £10m in profit booked into Liverpool's 2025-26 accounts, with the possibility of a further £4.4m in add-ons. Chris Weatherspoon
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
They tried to make him go to Riyadh… Here's why Bruno saying no should be celebrated
It's easy to get annoyed at Bruno Fernandes. As an on-pitch presence, he's not especially likeable. His face seems permanently set to 'complaint' mode. He nags at referees. There was that undignified episode when Manchester United lost 7-0 to Liverpool a couple of years ago and he essentially threw a tantrum on the pitch. Advertisement But, as much as anything, that just illustrates something we all know — that on-pitch manners do not necessarily maketh the man. You hear plenty of stories about Bruno being a good guy, which at the very least balances the apparent petulance, most notably his attempt to pay for United staff to attend the FA Cup final after their free travel and accommodation were nixed as part of Big Jim Ratcliffe's cost-cutting drive. He also tends to be the one who 'fronts up' to the media after United defeats, when most of the time he's the least of their problems. That might feel minor, but doing it means one of his younger, more junior, probably struggling team-mates doesn't have to. Fernandes currently plays for the worst type of football institution: one that's rich and high profile, and thus commands a lot of attention, but one that can't win games, seemingly makes the wrong decision at every turn and is run by people who seem intent on flushing any goodwill they might have down the toilet through redundancies, price rises, cutting charitable grants and whatever else they have planned in the name of austerity. This is a club that blunders at pretty much every turn, that has been carried on the pitch by their best player and captain for longer than he probably cares to remember, and one that you have little confidence is going to turn things around any time soon. In short, you wouldn't blame Fernandes for desperately grabbing at any plausible life raft that happens to float past. Which brings us to his decision to turn down Al Hilal this week. Fernandes was reportedly offered a contract that would have more than doubled his already significant wages to move to Saudi Arabia, with Al Hilal also apparently prepared to pay a £80million transfer fee to extract him from the sludge he's currently wading in. Advertisement Most United fans will naturally be delighted by his decision to reject the offer. Not only do they keep their best player, but they will be protected from the dispiriting prospect of their club probably frittering away a crucial windfall: of all the clubs you would trust to cash in on their star man and use the money to responsibly beef up their squad, United are at the bottom of the list. But the rest of us in Britain, Europe, the non-Saudi world, should be pleased too. It is, on the most basic level, refreshing to see someone have the conviction to turn down that amount of money. I can't confidently say that I would. If you can, then fair play to you. Fernandes' representatives met with Al Hilal, so we can assume that he didn't turn the offer down on moral grounds, otherwise he might not have even entertained it. But it's still pleasing that a player has not signed up to the Saudi project; someone of standing has rejected being a representative of the ultimate purpose of their move into sport, whether you call it sportswashing, soft power or something less charitable. The players that have agreed to move to the Saudi Pro League so far have generally fallen into three categories: ageing legends in decline, like Cristiano Ronaldo or Sadio Mane; excellent-but-not-quite-elite types in roughly their peak years, like Ruben Neves, Ivan Toney or Aleksandar Mitrovic; and relative journeymen, such as your Daniel Podences or Georges-Kevin N'Koudous. What they haven't really yet managed to snag is a genuinely elite player at the peak of his powers from one of the elite clubs; a player who could probably slot happily into most top European teams and who represents a legitimate loss to one of the 'legacy' leagues. You could argue Karim Benzema (who was the reigning Ballon d'Or holder when he joined Al Ittihad) or Riyad Mahrez (fresh from Manchester City's treble-winning season) fit into this category, but they were 35 and 32 respectively when they made their moves. Fernandes is 30, but still performing as if in his prime, so would probably have been the SPL's biggest coup from a purely football perspective, if not a PR one. Advertisement As it is, one of the Premier League's best players is staying in the Premier League, and will continue playing at a level of competition that befits his ability. Whether it's for that reason, or a sign that not everybody can be bought, or that not everyone can be persuaded to represent state project — take your pick — this should be celebrated. This is all said with the caveat that Fernandes is staying… for now. We have been in this position before, where someone turns down a move to Saudi Arabia initially, only to reconsider. Steven Gerrard, who rejected an offer to become manager Al Ettifaq in June 2023 then joined them the following month, springs to mind. This article might look pretty silly if Fernandes flip-flops. He also isn't necessarily staying at United: should a competent European team make him and United an attractive offer, he may still leave. We also shouldn't pretend he's a saint who is sticking around purely for altruistic reasons, for the history of a proud football club that he simply can't abandon. He has made this decision for essentially the same reason that all of those players who have moved to Saudi: because it is in the best interests of him and his family. If a better alternative presents itself, he will probably take it, and rightly so. But for now, Bruno Fernandes is not moving to Saudi Arabia, and we should welcome that fact.
