St. George’s Park Announces Golf Course Plans after Steven Gerrard Calls Site “Boring”

St. George’s Park, the complex constructed for all 24 England Football teams in Staffordshire, has announced plans to incorporate a 9-hole golf course at the site.

Opened in 2012, as a base for all national teams, St George’s Park already boasts 12 outdoor football pitches, including a replica of the Wembley surface, a full-size indoor 3G pitch, as well as an altitude chamber to mimic a variety of playing conditions.

But the site hasn’t been able to meet everyone’s expectations, with former Liverpool star, Steven Gerrard labeling the complex “boring” during an interview with Rio Ferdinand in June of this year.

“It’s a top place to train and prepare but away from the training pitch and the games, it can be boring. We need to create that atmosphere where England players are desperate to get away and do well,” Gerrard stated at the time.

On the top of his wish list for the site was the desire to overcome what he refers to as the “shyness” of English players.

“When you get to England, you want to have your lunch and go to bed and keep away from everyone because there’s a shyness. There needs to be an England atmosphere when you turn up and you know each other, you want to be with each other.”

Well it seems the managing director of the park Julie Harrington has taken notice of the former England captain’s recommendations. Announcing earlier this summer that her team has been looking into long-term plans to improve and further develop the site, including a new 9-hole golf course.

An announcement that couldn’t come at a more appropriate time with the Golf Club Managers’ Association getting ready to descend upon the complex in November this year for their biennial conference.

So will the chance to play a few rounds during players’ downtime make St. George’s a little less “boring” to golf-mad footballers like Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcot? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.