Murray Park

This article is about the Rangers F.C. training ground. For other uses, see Murray Park (disambiguation).
Murray Park
Location Auchenhowie, Milngavie
Coordinates 55°55′59″N 4°18′16″W / 55.9331929°N 4.3045163°W / 55.9331929; -4.3045163Coordinates: 55°55′59″N 4°18′16″W / 55.9331929°N 4.3045163°W / 55.9331929; -4.3045163
Owner Rangers F.C.
Surface Grass
Construction
Opened 4 July 2001
Construction cost £14 million

Murray Park is the training ground of Rangers F.C. located in Auchenhowie, Milngavie, on the outskirts of Glasgow.

History

Development and opening

Prior to the construction of the clubs own training facility, the first team would train at several locations across Glasgow including Ibrox Stadium, Bellahouston Park and the West of Scotland cricket ground. A dedicated training complex was first proposed by the then manager Dick Advocaat upon his arrival at the club in June 1998. It was officially opened on 4 July 2001 by Advocaat and then-chairman David Murray, after whom it is named.[1] The total cost of the complex was estimated at around £14 million.[1]

Purchase by Green's consortium and use as a security

On 14 June 2012, after the Administration and liquidation of The Rangers Football Club Plc, the training facility was sold along with other Rangers' assets, in a deal worth £5.5m, to The Rangers Football Club Ltd - a consortium led by Charles Green.[2] In July 2014, there was speculation that the Rangers board was looking to sell the clubs training facility in order to raise money due to a fan boycott of season tickets.[3]

Proposed renaming

The use of the name Murray Park has significantly reduced since the club was sold to Craig Whyte in 2011.[4] Moreover, after the liquidation of the company that previously owned the club and its assets, The Rangers Football Club Plc, many fans held David Murray partly or wholly responsibly,[5] and so began calling the facility Auchenhowie (after the geographic area where it is based).[4] In June 2012, the then Rangers Chief executive Charles Green announced he would ask Rangers season ticket holders to vote on renaming the club's training ground.[6] Green proposed that it could be renamed the Moses McNeil Academy or the Davie Cooper Academy after former Rangers players.[6] In June 2016, the then chairman Dave King revisited the issue of the renaming of Murray Park and asked Rangers fans to suggest an alternative name.[7]

Future developments

In February 2016, the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund revealed plans to provide £450,000 to build a 264-seater stand at Murray Park.[8]

Structure and facilities

The site covers a size of thirty-eight acres (over fifteen hectares). It is divided into three areas: the administration wing, the professional wing for the first team and the youth development wing. The professional and youth wings have their own separate receptions, dining areas, changing rooms, kit stores and lecture rooms.[9] Both share facilities including the gym, medical suite and the indoor synthetic pitch. Outside there are six full size pitches along with two half sized, and a practice area.[9] Two of the full-sized and one half-sized pitch are used only by the first team, these have under-soil heating, the others are used by the youth sides.[9]

The state-of-the-art gym equipment, costing £150,000, are all linked to a computer system which can activate a personalised fitness programme for individual players.[9] The gym also houses an iso-kinetic machine, which allows players to work out despite being injured by testing muscle strength and reactions. There is a hydrotherapy pool that has an angled, movable floor and a series of massage jets and currents that allows a range of rehabilitation exercises to take place.[9] There is also a media editing suite costing £50,000 which is where a video analyst will video each training session.[9] The footage will be used to conduct tactical lessons in the lecture room afterwards.

Other uses

Murray Park is often used by visiting club and national teams playing in Scotland. For example, the South Korea national football team, then managed by Advocaat, hired the facilities for their training before the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[10] In February 2015, Inter Milan trained at Murray Park after Rangers agreed to allow the Italians use of the facility prior to a UEFA Europa League match against Celtic.[11] This was not the first time Rangers offered support to a club that were to play Old Firm rivals Celtic, having made a similar offer to Juventus in 2013 and Blackburn Rovers (who were managed by Graeme Souness) in 2002.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Rangers unveil new training complex". BBC. BBC Sport. 4 July 2001.
  2. ↑ "Charles Green completes Rangers purchase despite Walter Smith bid". BBC. BBC News. 14 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Rangers board face accusations from Union of Fans that they are planning to sell Murray Park training facility". Roddy Forsyth. The Telegraph (London). 28 July 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Dave King Fan Response #3". Dave King. Rangers.co.uk. 21 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Rangers cheated and the truth is unpalatable, the damage irreversible". Graham Spiers. The Herald (Glasgow). 4 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Rangers' Murray Park training ground may be renamed". Keir Murray. BBC Sport. 6 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Dave King wants Rangers fans to rename Murray Park". Gavin McCafferty. The Scotsman (Edinburgh). 21 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "Rangers Fans Fighting Fund proposes £450,000 Murray Park stand development". Christopher Jack. The Herald (Glasgow). 19 February 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "MURRAY PARK". Rangers Football Club. Rangers.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Prodigal boss returns". Stewart Fisher. Sunday Herald (Glasgow). 28 May 2006.
  11. 1 2 "Rangers to hand Inter Milan keys to Murray Park ahead of their Europa League showdown with Celtic". Ashleigh McGinley. Daily Record (Glasgow). 17 February 2015.
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