Cambridge United head coach Mark Bonner hails new training facility as a ‘game changer’ for Sky Bet League One club

Cambridge United head coach Mark Bonner has hailed the club’s new training ground facilities as a ‘game changer’.

While there is some work still to be completed over the coming months, the U’s moved back into their Bentley Road Sports Ground base earlier this week following £3.5m worth of investment across the site.

It includes brand new changing and physio rooms, a gym, catering kitchen and dining area, office suites and a 30-seat analysis theatre – and Bonner believes that it will all help Cambridge to reach new heights.

He said: “I’m really lucky that I’m the first manager to be working in such an environment and with such facilities.

“We’re not fully operational yet but we’re really close and it will make a huge difference for us. But not only for now – this way beyond me. There will be a number of managers in the future who benefit from an amazing facility that will really help us.

“It will help us retain players, it will help us recruit players and it will help us teach, coach and develop players better. And hopefully that makes us a better team if it’s a really good environment for staff to work in.

“It’s a game changer. It’s an incredible amount of money and the investment has been great and there are so many people that have played a part in making it happen. It’s taken years to get to this point, but it’s another milestone in the last few years and a sign of the progress that we’re making.

“I think there’s quite a few more to come in the years ahead. It’s a really exciting time to be involved in the club.

“I’ve spoke to so many ex-players, coaches and managers that have seen the facility and think it’s amazing. But if you don’t know what we’ve had previously, you probably don’t know how good it is. And secondly, if all you see is Saturday at 3 o’clock and would love all that money to be invested on the pitch, it’s probably under-rating how important this is for the legacy of the club, the long-term of the club and to create a high-performing environment for our players to develop.

“What we’ve achieved to this point in the last few years – with the constraints we’ve worked under – is incredible. Three-and-a-half years I’ve been doing this and I don’t know if I’ve done an in-person press conference at our training ground. Obviously Covid and everything else has interrupted it, but this is a big difference for all of us.

“We hope over time that we see a benefit of that and once we get everything up and running properly it will be great.

“To everyone that watches these interviews, they’ll see me sat in front of board just like always. But if you actually look at the room I’m sat in, compared to the room I have been sat in for the last few years, it’s pretty different.

“It’s a big, big occasion for us, a big moment and a big step forward. We want to make sure it really works for us and ultimately, just like the development of the Abbey Stadium or buying back the Abbey Stadium or whatever milestones you want to mention from the last few years, we’re really grateful to the the owners for that –everybody should be.

“Personally, to be in the position I am now and benefitting from this is going to be really good for us.”

Bonner is also hopeful that the new facility will help the club when it comes to player recruitment.

In years gone by potential new signings may have been put off by the very basic surroundings, but now United is able to offer a much enhanced environment.

He added: “If you’ve got a nice environment to come to work in and you’ve got the facilities to do your job properly – which is what we’ve got – this is game changing for us.

“Some of the level of work, some of the quality we’ve got to work with, it’s fundamental and fairly basic – but we haven’t had that. But then some of it is a new level and the way it’s been finished, the modernisation of it all, it’s outstanding and the technology we’ve got available is very good.

“It will help develop the spirit of the team, the togetherness and professionalism and the way we can work will be far advanced.

“Players and staff want to come to an environment where they are motivated every day and not demotivated because of it. And therefore I think it can help us hugely in the end.

“The majority of players – understandably in a short career – the biggest determining factor on whether they sign somewhere will be the wages that they get it. And as we gradually increase that, we hope that this as an environment is a really attractive proposition for people.

“It won’t be the game changer that attracts everybody to come and play for Cambridge United, but it does mean when you’re here you’ll enjoy it more, you’ll get more out of it and you’ll get better. Hopefully it will be a tipping point when we do come to sign some players.”