Recycling rainwater, stitching fibres, Liverpool training ground is taking shape

Liverpool's new state-of-the-art training ground is taking shape nicely as the club have released new images of the complex on their website.

Just over a year ago, the Reds released the first images of the new training complex based in Kirkby. The decision to develop the facility was heavily influenced by manager Jurgen Klopp to allow the youth teams to train closer to the senior side and provide a clear path of progression through the club.

Liverpool have since released new images of the training ground - that they are due to move into at the end of the season - to their website, where they show off some of the world-class upgrades being made to the site.

The Kirkby training complex will boast a 9,200m² building as well as three outdoor pitches measuring approximately 32,000m². They have made the decision to try and mirror the Anfield playing surface as much as possible, with under-soil heating and floodlighting.

The grass itself has been reinforced using Desso Grassmaster artificial fibres. The stitching process took the club 12 weeks to install more than 192,000km of fibre that has been stitched into layers of sand beneath each pitch.

The enormous development will also have a dedicated goalkeeping and warm-up areas, an outdoor sports area with a full-size tennis court, artificial grass head tennis court, a large artificial grass training area, two padel tennis courts and a beach volleyball court.

Liverpool are not just kitting themselves out with plenty of warm-up and cool down areas. They have also dug deep into the scientific and technological advancements of modern sport, as they explained on their website.

'To support healthy growth, the pitches contain 180 tonnes of Zeolite, a form of volcanic ash and other organic products, which reduces nutrient loss and helps keep the pitches to an exceptionally high standard.

'Sixty pop-up irrigation heads have been installed to provide water to all the pitches to give the slick, fast surface required for Liverpool’s style of play.'

Not only are the Premier League leaders using volcanic ash to keep their pitches fresh, but they're also recycling rainwater through a borehole to make the site self-sufficient.

The statement read: 'The newly-installed borehole will ensure that the club’s irrigation strategy is self-sufficient, avoiding the use of mains-sourced water for irrigation. The club’s Academy site also uses an existing borehole to irrigate its pitches.

'As part of the grounds’ maintenance building, the Reds have invested in a biological vehicle wash system, allowing its grounds team to wash equipment, vehicles or parts and reclaim the water used. The system treats and filters out grease, grime, oil and grass cuttings that can collect on vehicles and equipment and effectively recycles the dirty water to be used again.'