Planning bid for 'landmark' €5m soccer complex outside Clara
A planning bid for the development of a state-of-the-art centre of excellence to cater for underage soccer players from the Midlands Schoolboy/girls League has been submitted to Offaly County Council.
The proposed development, expected to cost "in the region of €5 million", would be located on a 27 acre site in the townland of Curraghboy or Woodfield, Clara, and is designed to give players and coaches from Offaly, Westmeath, Laois, Roscommon and East Galway the best possible foundation for their footballing education and overall development both on and off the pitch.
Speaking to the Offaly Independent this week, Midlands Schoolboys/girls League Secretary, Derek Collins, said the planning application, submitted to the local authority on Monday, marked the next phase of what would be a "landmark" development for underage football in the region.
The proposed centre of excellence site is located between Clara and Tubber.
The facility would comprise of four playing pitches in total, two grass playing pitches and two pitches with a synthetic all-weather surface.
The planning application also includes the construction of a "single-level facilities building", 865 sq m in size, which would incorporate an "entrance lobby, reception area, function room, meeting room, weight/training room, multi-purpose community room, eight changing rooms, medical/first aid room, shower and toilet facilities".
Externally, the plans submitted to Offaly County Council include the proposed construction of 123 vehicle parking spaces in two on-site areas complete with a "dedicated coach/bus set down area".
Proposed access to the development would be via a new vehicular entrance from the L6045 "with associated road upgrade works to accommodate development related traffic movements".
Land for the proposed development was purchased by the Midlands Schoolboy/girls League in 2022.
To date, the league has received sports capital grant funding of €470,000 towards the project, with the League secretary saying he looked forward to laying the foundations on a development expected to cost "in the region" of €5 million.
"We now have close to 7,000 players participating in our underage competitions and this proposed development is going to be a significant advantage to players and coaches from the Midlands region.
"When completed, the state-of-the-art centre of excellence will hopefully allow our players to maximise their potential and progress to playing League of Ireland football in the years to come," Mr Collins said.
Currently, the Midlands Schoolboy/girls League spends "approximately €60,000" each year renting club pitches on a weekly basis for Emerging Talent Programme (ETP) training sessions which are designed to nurture and develop talented young players with a view to helping them progress onto the national and potentially international stage in due course.
The league secretary said having their own state-of-the-art facility would allow coaches to have more 'contact hours' with players who are participating in the ETP.
"At the moment ETP players are availing of just two hours contact training. When we have our centre of excellence developed we will be in a position to provide additional contact hours to our players," Mr Collins added.
While no specific timeframe has been outlined for the delivery of the new centre of excellence, the League secretary is hopeful that future grant funding, fundraising initiatives, and "support from a major sponsor" could allow work to start on the centre of excellence "as soon as planning permission is granted".
"A planning permission decision date has yet to be finalised, but we are ready to put a spade in the ground once it is, hopefully, granted," Mr Collins said.