The Manchester City Women’s team have officially submitted a planning application for a brand new purpose-built training ground to be built as part of the wider City Football Academy (CFA).
Set to join the other state-of-the-art training facilities over on the Etihad Campus and said to be valued at around £10 million, the creation of the standalone facility will house the women’s first team, who currently share a building with the academy teams at the club.
While Man City Women do currently have their own pitches, the plans look to bring further parity across male and female football at the club, as well as freeing up more space for the youth teams at the existing CFA in the process.
Should the planning application be approved, the new City Women’s training ground will open in 2025 and will feature a hydrotherapy area, a high-performance gym and an analytics space — all designed to enhance player development by mirroring the elite athletic environment of the men’s first team.
Manchester City Women have submitted a planning application to Manchester City Council for the development of a purpose-built training facility at our training centre, City Football Academy.
During the planning stages, the club have been working closely with first-team and multi-disciplinary experts to ensure the facility best meets the specific needs of the players. The 17,000-square-foot building has also been designed to be ultimately expanded over time as the team continues to grow.
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As a press release goes on to detail, “As well as benefitting from a private facility, the team will continue to be a central part of the eco-system at the £200m City Football Academy meaning they can take advantage of the resources and know-how across the organisation’s wider operations and facilities.”
Commenting on the plans, City Women’s Managing Director Charlotte O’Neill said: “Over the past decade, our shared space at CFA has been a huge asset to the team, providing unrivalled access to world-leading facilities and industry experts who’ve helped the team to adopt the Club’s philosophies on and off the pitch and establish itself as a pioneer in the development of women’s football in this country.
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“However, as the team evolves, so do their needs and that’s why we continue to invest in the right facilities at the right stage in the team’s journey.
“By building a new, state-of-the-art facility, we will provide our players with a bespoke industry-leading environment for them to train and recover together, and we believe this will further improve player welfare, and help attract even more talent to Man City and the next generation of aspiring women footballers.”
CGI renders of the newly proposed City Women’s training ground (Credit: MCWFC)
Club captain Steph Houghton also gave her thoughts on the exciting new development, adding: “I’ve been incredibly proud to call the CFA home for the past ten years and have seen first-hand how the integrated facilities we are a part of have contributed to the development of the women’s team…
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“As we look to take the next step in our journey of developing the women’s game, it’s right that we now develop our own purpose-built home, at the heart of City Football Academy, and I’m thrilled the Club has the ambition and commitment to keep investing in our future.”
City has been at the forefront of investment in women’s football ever since the Women’s Super League started, having already opened the league’s first purpose-built training facility back in 2014 before the academy teams were moved into the same area.
A release date for the Freddie Flintoff documentary has been confirmed
Danny Jones
The release date for the upcoming Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff documentary has been revealed, and it’s coming a lot sooner than many expected.
Simply entitled Flintoff, the documentary has been highly anticipated among UK audiences, especially given events in recent years.
Landing on Disney+ only, the film will follow his glittering cricket career as well as his return to the sport and the public after a life-altering car crash whilst filming Top Gear in 2022.
Much to our surprise, it’s all ready to go and is dropping next month.
— What’s On Disney Plus (@disneyplusnews) April 11, 2025
The Disney+ doc will run for approximately 90 minutes and follow on from his recent BBC series, Freddie Flintoff‘s Field of Dreams, which saw him start to open up about the difficult period and recovery publicly for the first time.
An eye-opening and candid show in its own right alongside the inspiring story of a teen cricket team being coached by the Lancashire and England legend, he won even more hearts when the second season launched last August.
It’s no surprise that there is a third instalment on its way next year.
It’s also worth noting that this isn’t the first time he’s been the subject of his own documentary, as the 47-year-old also released a BBC One called Freddie Flintoff: Living with Bulimia, charting his personal struggles with the eating disorder and mental health even prior to the trauma of his crash.
You can see a snippet of the one-off show down below.
The Preston-born all-rounder has confessed he still suffers from PTSD following the incident, detailing struggles with anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks of the crash, insisting that it “changed my life forever.”
All that being said, we’re glad to see that he’s continued to overcome numerous obstacles and remains an extremely funny and personable figure, as well as an eternal icon of British sport that so many admire.
As for Disney’s Flintoff film, the documentary will be available exclusively on the streaming platform in the UK and Ireland from Friday, April 25.
The first-ever Gladiators Live Tour is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
Gladiators, ready! Mancs, ready? We certainly hope so because the first-ever ‘Gladiators Live Tour’ is setting across the UK and is coming to Manchester.
When we first heard that the beloved British version of the hit TV show (which first ran here in the UK for eight seasons between 1992 and 2000) was coming back, we were buzzing, and now we’ve heard it’s coming to us live and in person, we’re about ready to fight you with big pugil sticks over a seat.
Since returning in 2024 and the second series beginning at the start of this year on BBC One and Player, with a third season set for January 2026, Gladiators has recaptured imaginations across the country, bringing in both new viewers and those who remember the original back to the screen.
We’ve always wondered what it would be like to take part – not that we’d stand a chance, mind you – but we suppose seeing the Gladiators in action live right here in Manchester is the next best thing.
Set to deliver an action-packed experience, the global debut of the Gladiators Live Tour is ready to drop a superhero landing in the heart of Manchester city centre at none other than the legendary AO Arena.
Promising a thrilling two-hour watch featuring fan-favourite events and, of course, an ultimate Eliminator, the live Gladiators experience has all the charm of the much-loved TV show with the added excitement of different twists each night.
There are a pair of dates in Manchester, as well as two events a pieces available in Liverpool, London and Birmingham, with the AO matinee shows spread across a weekend this autumn.
It goes without saying that the fast-paced and fun-for-all-ages spectacle will see some serious athleticism and stunts, as well as purpose-built sets and state-of-the-art lighting in order to bring the gladiatorial battleground truly to life in front of your very eyes.
We may have just missed out on the latest recruitment drive, but we can guarantee you’ll find us out there in the audience.
GLADIATORS, READY!⚡ For the first time ever, the Gladiators Live Tour is here to electrify Manchester!
Gladiators The Live Tour comes to Manchester on 22 and 23 November 2025, and you have two chances to access pre-sale: first through the AO Arena itself from 10am on Tuesday, 15 April and then again the following day if you’re a Three Mobile member.
As for general admission, tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 17 April and trust us, these things will go faster than a round of ‘Unleashed’.
Danny Jones -
12th January 2024 
