Last week, Blackpool FC announced long-awaited plans for a 100-acre, seven-pitch new training facility on Garstang Road.
The club has exchanged contracts for the site, which will house both the first-team and the academy.
Once built, it will finally spell the end of the club’s current base Squires Gate, which hasn’t been fit for purpose for some time now.
Here, we take a look back at 12 times the training ground was a source of embarrassment for the club...
1. "Hellhole"
Back in 2009, then Blackpool manager Ian Holloway famously described the training ground as a “hellhole”. He secured a pledge from chairman Karl Oyston for the team to train at Fylde’s rugby ground pending the construction of a new fit-for-purpose facility elsewhere, with Oyston land off Ballam Road in Lytham the favoured location. On securing promotion to the Premier League, Holloway and Blackpool fans alike fully expected the promises about a new training ground to be made good. Instead, they found the team back at the dilapidated Squires Gate. Photo: JPI Media
2. "Centre of Excellance"
In one of the more ignominious episodes of Blackpool’s disgraced tenure under the Oystons, a sign on the side of a portable cabin was incorrectly spelt - reading “Blackpool Football Club Training Ground & Centre of Excellance”. Photo: JPI Media
3. The Premier League ‘legacy’
In 2013, three years on from the season in the Premier League, when quizzed why work hadn’t started on a new training ground, Karl Oyston stated that Paul Ince didn’t consider upgrading the facility a priority, so it was on hold. In really bad weather the team trained on the Bloomfield Road surface, reducing it to a quagmire. Photo: CameraSport - Ashley Crowden
4. 'A top priority'
By 2014, with criticism of the Oyston regime building, many fans had become acutely sceptical. However chairman Karl Oyston sought to reassure The Gazette that the development was a top priority, claiming 'It will absolutely happen. I will deliver a training ground for Blackpool FC as soon as I possibly can.' Photo: JPI Media
5. "Disgrace"
Former Seasider and England international Trevor Sinclair branded the club a “laughing stock” and claimed their training facilities were a “disgrace”. Photo: Daniel Martino
6. Submerged
In 2016, former Pool boss Neil McDonald claimed one of the pitches at Squires Gate had been under water for a "couple of months". “We’ve got on with it and get through it. We won’t complain too much,” he said. Photo: Daniel Martino