Inside my tour of the new Manchester United training centre at Carrington

Inside my tour of the new Manchester United training centre at Carrington

After Sir Jim Ratcliffe cut the red ribbon, the MEN and other outlets were given a tour of the new Man United training hub.

United players, staff and dignitaries inside the renovated Carrington building

Diogo Dalot is still close to Cristiano Ronaldo. So will he show Carrington's staunchest critic any imagery of its renovation?

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"If he asks me, probably yes," Dalot smiles. "I'm sure he would love it if he would be able to see it. But overall I think the message was clear that this club deserved even more and, like I said, all credit to Sir Jim and his team."

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To the naked eye, the exterior of the main building at Manchester United's Carrington training complex is no different. Inside, it is oak-panelled upstairs and downstairs, with open office spaces, enough natural light to gain vitamin D and even with a press conference room.

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The labyrinthine corridors of the old Carrington are gone. Benjamin Sesko should not struggle to find his way around.

United's players provided input. "Obviously, before the construction started, we had a talk," Dalot says. "So obviously we gave some insights of what we would like to have, especially in terms of performance, space for us to be together, for us to create this culture.

"Also to create a good environment in the team where we can spend some time together also doing everything that is related to recover well and be at the highest level to perform.

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"So I think altogether they did a fantastic job."

Tom Heaton trained at Littleton Road and The Cliff before United relocated to Carrington in 2000, having identified the land in 1996. That project cost £13million. Its revamp was £50m and came in on budget.

"At the time it felt like a big mark or a pivotal moment in the football club," Heaton says. "Incredible facilities at the time. But as time goes through and ideas modernise and the game evolves and things evolve with it, we still had everything we needed but it wasn't quite up to what we wanted."

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The new first team dressing room

The opening of the new facilities started with a nod to the old guard. Kath Phipps, the longest United employee on record, was remembered by Sir Alex Ferguson as he unveiled a plaque in tribute to the 55-year club stalwart who passed away in December.

It is displayed on the wall behind where her desk used to be. Kath would greet us as we strolled in before we turned right to enter the old press conference room. That space will become a gym reserved for staff.

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"She was a sweetheart," Sir Alex Ferguson said. "An absolute sweetheart. This was her life. When she lost her husband 20 years ago, this was her life every day. Loved by everyone, an exceptional person.

“I'm going to unveil this and thank her for the wonderful person she was, and for Manchester United.”

The communal area for players and staff upstairs

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Our tour started with nothing that had changed. The gym is the same school sports hall it was when a handful of us toured Carrington in 2022. A shop-window hub has been added for the sports scientists to record the players' metrics.

Through the doors is an entirely new recovery room with mats laid out for yoga and pilates. A high-altitude training room, one of the most noticeable investments. Multiple players can use it so that no one feels isolated.

Not everything has been upgraded. The swimming pool that was redecorated after private criticism from Ronaldo is the same but the sauna, steam room and recovery have been remodelled.

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One of the major pieces of groundworks was a brand new basement that was dug into the building to accommodate the new steam and sauna, cold and hot plunge pools, and the hydroworks. That can be raised to ground level for players during their rehabilitation from a serious injury. They can walk onto it before they are lowered to a specific height and body weight for them to run on a treadmill under water. Their movements are monitored on screens on the nearby wall.

The stairs leading up to the briefing room

Staff felt the previous saunas and steam rooms were smaller and hidden away. The designers were instructed to make them more open.

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Back to the new: a "halfway-house" dressing room has been added for the 'emerging talent', such as Chido Obi, Diego Leon and Sekou Kone, as neither have a first team space yet. The academy will continue to be housed in their own building across the main car park, adjoined to the women's team.

The first team dressing room is reminiscent of the home room at Old Trafford, but vaster. Iced baths are in the shower area and monitoring room, as well as smart urinals that can measure if a player is dehydrated. One padel court will be installed amid the sport's popularity with players and staff.

Matheus Cunha's and Bryan Mbeumo's lockers are the closest to the new dressing room's entrance. By each player's name there is a screen charting their schedule for the week: when to report for training (9.30am), training times, days off and matchdays. Jadon Sancho's space is buried away in the corner, the only name without a number.

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Staff spoke of the "player journey", inspired by the LA Rams' training base that United staff visited last year. At United, this is a red line from the training pitches back into the building via the rear. The image that greets the players is of euphoric United players and supporters celebrating Harry Maguire's 121st-minute winner against Lyon in April.

Trophies adorn the wall (Image: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners)

United have relocated to their usual first team pitches, designed to replicate Old Trafford's, behind the Jimmy Murphy Centre. That building will be repurposed, possibly for hospitality guests and meet-and-greets.

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The women used portakabins between the Jimmy Murphy Centre and main hub last season. They have now returned to their designated quarters that opened in 2024. United believe their facilities are among the best for a women's team in Europe.

Ferguson expressed his regret that the Carrington gym did not face the pitches to provide players recovering from injury an extra incentive. The compromise is the new treatment room, which has been described as "transformational" as it offers a vista of the pitches.

Natural light flows in. Staff likened the old medical room to a "dungeon". "It's a medical space with a hospitality feel," one of the architects said of the upgrade. Next to it is a state-of-the-art passive recovery room with sleeping pods, flotation tanks, an oxygen chamber, red light therapy and cryotherapy that allow players to switch off and have mindfulness.

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The swimming pool (Image: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners)

In the past, some players have conducted their rehabilitation away from Carrington. United intend to keep the players on site for as often as possible and expect them to remain on site longer to maximise the new facilities.

Down the corridor is a room with MRI and CTE scanners and a whole-body scanner. That can scan an athlete in seven minutes and get a complete breakdown of their body composition, the bone mineral density, how much body fat they have and their muscle-mass, which can then be tracked over the course of the campaign.

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United figures are confident they are now among the best-equipped football clubs in the world with all three scanners and medicals can be conducted entirely at Carrington.

The staircase to the upper floor is adorned by United's major trophies: the Premier League crown, the FA Cup, the League Cup, the European Cup, and individual honours to remind the players what they are striving for. Players and staff are encouraged to mingle away from offices.

The players' briefing room (Image: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners)

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Upstairs, the players' briefing room is next door to the coaching staff room. It is fitted with 30 snug Italian leather chairs in three rows of ten. A tactics board is present while a large screen provides footage of the most recent match with a smaller screen to the left listing the relevant data. The players have already likened it to a cinema room.

Nearby is the open working space, akin to the Ineos offices in Knightsbridge. United's analysts were sat together a day before the final pre-season friendly with Fiorentina.

Meeting rooms are also available for more private conversations. Ruben Amorim still has his own office but is happy to collaborate openly. Director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada have their own "private spaces". The recruitment hub is at the far end of the room.

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Consideration was given to flexibility of space, natural light and natural ventilation. The architects provided higher ceilings to create an environment that is more joyful and can maintain longer concentration levels.

A communal area just outside the dressing room (Image: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners)

Where there was once the dead space of a grey balcony that was seldom used amid the notorious Manchester weather is now the first team's de facto lounge. A barbershop and a F1 simulator room have been installed by the relaxing dining area that looks out onto the academy pitches.

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Some hair was already on the floor. Heaton confirmed it was Dalot's. "Not to throw any names under the bus, he's over there!" Heaton chuckled. "First in, he'd have been odds-on favourite for his haircut first as well."

Players have been encouraged to personalise the communal area that features eight chairs and two sofas next to their dining area. New kitchens have been installed.

Round the corner is another open office space for non-football staff. United's workforce has been slashed to 700 since Ratcliffe assumed control of football operations and 500 employees are due to relocate to Carrington from Old Trafford in September

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An external view of Carrington (Image: Nigel Young / Foster + Partners)

Staff were previously boxed into windowless rooms and United wanted facilities. Now they can work with the Carrington boardroom visible, although it has curtains for sensitive meetings.

Our tour ended in the new 80-seater room where Amorim will hold court. The irony is it was designed so vastly in compliance with Uefa regulations. United's new hub is befitting a Champions League team.

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Ferguson often used to drive from the players' car park to the main car park for press conferences in the academy building. Now there are new studios for media interviews and signing unveilings so media commitments are more seamless. There is a dedicated working area for journalists outside.

Ronaldo would approve.

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