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
Opened	4 July 2001
Owner	Rangers Football Club Ltd
Operator	Rangers F.C.
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	£14 million
Tenants
Rangers Football Club

Murray Park is the training ground of association football team Rangers F.C. Located in Auchenhowie, Milngavie, on the outskirts of Glasgow.

History

The complex was first proposed by then manager Dick Advocaat when he arrived at the club in 1998. It was officially opened on 4 July 2001 by Advocaat and then-chairman Sir David Murray, after whom it is named.^[1] The total cost of the complex was estimated at around £14 million.

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.^[2]

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. 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 ones and a practice area. Two of the full-sized and one half-sized pitch are used just by the first team, these have undersoil heating, the others are used by the youth sides.

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. The gym also houses an isokinetic 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, moveable floor and a series of massage jets and currents that allows a range of rehabilitation exercises to take place.

There is also a media editing suite costing £50,000 which is where a video analyst will video each training session. The footage will be used to conduct tactical lessons in the lecture room afterwards.

References

1. ^ "Rangers unveil new training complex". BBC Sport. 4 July 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/1422680.stm. 
2. ^ Fisher, Stewart (28 May 2006). "Prodigal boss returns". Sunday Herald. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20060528/ai_n16697207. 

External links

• Murray Park at the Rangers home page