Premier League teams back elite South Yorkshire facility
The plans received backing from major clubs in England and abroad including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and LA Galaxy.
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A 37-acre football retreat for elite international clubs has been granted planning permission at a second attempt, after the applicant bought the homes of objectors who lived nearby.
The City of Doncaster Council’s planning committee approved proposals for the mass sporting facility – known as the Doncaster City Elite Training Centre – at its second appearance before the panel, following an intervention from the chief executive of the local Chamber of Commerce, Dan Fell MBE.
Mr Fell told the July 28, 2026, meeting that the business community in Doncaster, and the nearby village of Bawtry, were surprised that the committee did not follow recommendations from planning officers to approve the application when it was first brought forward in February 2026.
He told the panel: “We can all turn on the news and see that it’s pretty dire times for the economy… business confidence is absolutely at rock-bottom at the moment.
“We badly, badly need economic stimulus in our economy.”
The committee refused the previous application for the training centre over concerns for the green belt it would be built on and the “loss of good quality of life” for the owner-occupiers of two cottages whose properties would have been surrounded by the facility.
Mr Fell’s comments prompted a response from Councillor Rob Dennis, who said the applicant had not been “listening to humans” when it presented the first application.
“When you’ve got those two properties in the middle that were an island in the middle of this mass sporting facility, if I was a resident, I would not accept that. So I certainly wouldn’t put forward anything for that to happen to anyone else,” Coun Dennis said.
Charles Dunn, who was representing the applicant – the football agent Willie McKay – said his client had “listened really carefully to the complaints previously raised”.
The committee heard how the applicant had entered into a “property purchase agreement” with the owner-occupiers of Martin Grange Cottage and Ravenglade Cottage.
It means both properties are now part of the development and no longer “completely enclosed” by it, as described by Collette King, a resident of Martin Grange Cottage, during the previous committee meeting in February 2026.
The committee heard how the owner-occupiers of the properties had now reversed their objections and submitted letters of support for the application.
Dave Richards, planning team leader at Doncaster Council, told the panel the proposals were “broadly identical to the previous submission,” with the key change being the purchase and inclusion of Martin Grange Cottage and Ravenglade Cottage.
The centre would operate on a “year-round basis,” according to the planning reports, but with peak use during the football season, including “full-board five-star hotel accommodation for elite teams, supported by permanent hospitality, service, maintenance and security staff”.
It would feature five full size football pitches, three dedicated goalkeeper training areas, three warm-up and technical training areas, a covered “show pitch stand” with 499 seats, spectators’ toilets and elevated camera platform, a padel court building, car parking provision and more.
The proposals had received letters of support from the local MP, Lee Pitcher, and elite professional football clubs from around the world, including Newcastle United, Tottemham Hotspur, West Ham United, LA Galaxy in the USA and Racing Club de Strasbourg in France.
