MMU takes over City’s Platt Lane training complex

MANCHESTER City FC has severed its ties with south Manchester after handing its Platt Lane Complex to Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU).

The Fallowfield site was the first team’s training facility until a move to Carrington in 2001 and it has since been the home of the youth academy.

City is now consolidating all its activities at a new campus close to the Etihad Stadium in east Manchester. It will continue to own Platt Lane and has agreed a management deal with the MMU.

The Platt Lane Complex was a stone’s throw from City’s Maine Road stadium which as cleared 10 years ago to make way for housing.

The university plans to maintain the same sports and fitness facilities, and City’s City in the Community programme will continue to deliver grassroots programmes from the facility.

MMU students will start using the complex from January as a new centre for university football and other sports, primarily as a midweek venue for competitive matches. The centre’s 19 staff have transferred to the university.

Professor John Brooks, MMU’s Vice-Chancellor, said: “We have been discussing the Platt Lane Complex with both Manchester City FC and Manchester City Council for some months; it represents the first major activity following the signing of our collaboration agreement in July. It is also a key part of our ambitious sports strategy, and we are delighted that our students and staff will have access to a superb sports complex as part of our overall commitment to sports and fitness at MMU.”

Jon Stemp, City’s chief infrastructure officer, said: “We are very pleased to see the Platt Lane site under the management of MMU; a highly respected institution with a fantastic sporting reputation. It is a significant milestone in our developing relationship and we are confident that MMU is the correct partner to continue the sporting legacy left by Manchester City FC.

“The area around Platt Lane has such historical significance for the Club and its fans, so it was particularly important that the agreement allowed City in the Community to maintain grassroots delivery for the local community.”