Poisoned soil, Arsenal mistake - how the City training ground that changed Manchester was built

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Jon Stemp had never been to Manchester before September 2008 when he was hired to transform the infrastructure of the newly-rich Manchester City, yet his first day served as a perfect crash course in the city and its football teams.

His taxi driver at the train station asked him if he meant 'the f****** council house' when he asked to go to the stadium, and once he arrived a City executive gave him a book covering 100 years of the club's history and a Jimmy Grimble DVD.

The message was clear: this club has existed long before you so learn about the history and leave it in a better place. The job description was no less daunting.

City's owners, having tried to improve what they had after their 2008 takeover, had quickly reached the conclusion that a new facility was needed to match their lofty ambitions and realised that they could come to a mutually beneficial partnership with a city council that was desperate to see regeneration in east Manchester. ALSO READ: No homework, no match - inside the hidden curriculum producing Man City future stars ALSO READ: City player ratings vs Palace So was born the 'World Leading Project', which saw Stemp and his colleagues go around the world for two years learning from what the top sporting organisations had got right - and wrong - with their training grounds.