ALBION have revealed plans to extend their training ground.

The club wants to add to their American Express Elite Football Performance Centre in Mash Barn Lane, Lancing.

They submitted the plans to Lancing Parish Council on Wednesday.

In the planning application, the club stated: “Although the club has this excellent top-category training centre, it is aware of the need to continually improve sports training, rehabilitation and recovery facilities.

“This is in order to provide the best opportunities possible for emerging youth talent in the academy, to retain existing first team professional players and to attract the best new footballing talent from across the UK and beyond.”

The proposal includes adding a new single storey “club hub” to the club’s facility in Lancing.

Martin Perry, executive director of Brighton and Hove Albion, said: "Our new training facility in Lancing has been a massive success and is recognised nationally and internationally as one of the best in Europe.

"It is the nerve centre of the club’s footballing operations and we are keen to further invest and develop the facility to include additional sports science and sports facilities."

The new "club hub" will include a building with women’s and girls’ changing rooms, community changing rooms and pitch-side seating for parents and coaches.

Albion said they were also “committed to embracing the emerging and expanding interest in women’s football”.

Mr Perry said: "Since we opened the training facility, Brighton & Hove Albion is the only club south of London to be awarded a Tier 1 licence for women’s and girls teams and are now becoming established in the fully professional Women’s Super League, the top division of Women’s football in this country. 

“We want to retain this licence and help develop women’s football in the south of England, with many beneficiaries coming from Sussex.

"To do this we need dedicated facilities for our elite women’s and girls’ teams, to help develop future talent through our academy."

On the first floor of the proposed extension there would be facilities exclusively for the first team coaches and support staff.

This would include a “wellness spa” area which the club says would “further facilities to support player welfare, health and fitness”.

The spa would feature a relaxation lounge, lounger area, jacuzzi, footbaths, a sauna, a steam room, hot and cold plunge pools and a UV heat pod.

There are also several other developments in the planning application.

These include three new pitches and a “training grid” which would see the ground expanded to the south east of the existing site.

Currently, the training ground has 15 pitches and several other training areas.

The club said this appeared “generous” but was necessary as they needed to use pitch rotation to preserve the pitches and make sure their teams could train on the “highest standard, exemplary playing surfaces”.

This allows pitches to be available throughout the football season.

The club uses artificial surfaces while the grass pitches are repaired and re-grown.

The new scheme would mean more pitches which in turn would allow more rotation.

The current pitch provision is said to be the “minimum required” to meet the club’s training programme.

As a result of new pitches being added, many of the training ground’s other facilities would have to be moved.

The indoor pitch, show pitch, spectator stand, floodlighting and a camera tower would all have to be relocated.