Rockliffe Park (Hurworth) facts for kids
Rockliffe Park, located near Hurworth in County Durham, is the main training center and sports complex for Middlesbrough Football Club. It's where the team practices and gets ready for their games.
Contents
History of Rockliffe Park
Early Beginnings (1863-1996)
The story of Rockliffe Park began in 1863. A man named Arthur Backhouse, from a Quaker banking family in Darlington, built a large house called Rockliffe Hall. It was first known as Pilmore Hall.
Later, the house and its land were sold to Lord Southampton. During World War II, it was even used as a special headquarters for military operations. After the war, the estate was divided among the family and then sold in 1948 to a group of brothers who ran hospitals, called the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God. They built St Cuthbert's Hospital there. The brothers stayed until 1991 when they moved to a different location nearby in Scorton.
Middlesbrough F.C. Takes Over (1997-Today)
After being empty for a while, Middlesbrough Football Club bought Rockliffe Park in 1997. The club wanted to create a top-notch training center. They even visited other famous clubs, like AFC Ajax, to see how their training academies worked.
The Rockliffe Park training complex was built by the same company that built the Riverside Stadium, Taylor Woodrow. It cost about £7 million to build. The complex was officially opened on October 29, 1998, by the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
In September 2008, after a lot of rain, part of the training complex flooded. The River Tees overflowed, covering an area the size of four football pitches with water. Another local team, Billingham Synthonia, and their reserve team also use the training facilities at Rockliffe.
Amazing Facilities
The Rockliffe Park training complex is huge! It sits on a 160-acre (0.65 km2) piece of land. On this land, there are 8 full-size football pitches.
The complex is used for many things by the football club. The younger teams, known as the Academy, and the Reserve team (backup players) play their games and train here. Even the England national football team has trained at Rockliffe Park! They used the complex in 2003 before their important Euro 2004 qualifying match against Slovakia at the Riverside Stadium.
What's Next for Rockliffe?
In October 2006, Middlesbrough Football Club, working with Rockcliffe Hall Developments, bought more land next to Rockliffe Hall. This land was about 4 square kilometers of farmland.
The club then announced exciting plans to build a new golf course, a fancy hotel at Rockliffe Hall, and some homes. This project was expected to cost £50 million. The local council, Darlington Borough Council, gave permission for these plans on December 12, 2006. When finished, this project will create the first five-star hotel in the region and one of Europe's longest golf courses!
