Preston North End complete the purchase of Wigan Athletic's Euxton training ground

https://www.lep.co.uk/lifestyle/outdoors/all-clear-152-new-homes-ingol-golf-and-squash-club-1393272https://www.lep.co.uk/news/politics/residents-safety-and-flooding-fears-over-new-preston-north-end-training-ground-2071980The deal was confirmed on Tuesday lunchtime, with the site bought from Wigan's administrators.

It was previously Bolton Wanderers' main training ground - developed during their Premier League years - before Wigan moved there in the summer of 2016 when Bolton hit financial difficulties.

The same fate has befallen Wigan, with North End believed to have paid around £1.6m for the site which has three pitches and an extensive indoor facilities.

PNE's first-team squad are set to move from Springfields to Euxton during the autumn.

The club's Under-18s, currently based at the UCLan Sports Arena at Cottam, will be based at Springfields.

A statement from club advisor Peter Ridsdale, published on the PNE website, said: "Over the last couple of weeks an opportunity presented itself where we could buy a ‘Premier League ready’ training ground at Euxton which had previously been developed at substantial cost by Bolton Wanderers Football Club and then subsequently purchased by Wigan Athletic.

"We can now confirm that we have purchased the Euxton training ground from the administrator at Wigan Athletic. Completion took place this morning, 1st September 2020.

"This purchase delivers on our promise to bring Premier League training facilities to the football club and allows the academy under 18 team the opportunity to move from their temporary home at UCLan to Springfields."

North End have planning permission to build a new training ground on the site of the former Ingol Golf Course - owned by PNE owner Trevor Hemmings - with that permission granted in 2017 after a lengthy process which saw PNE supporters back the plans.

The planning permission gave Hemmings the opportunity to develop the surrounding area with housing, that aspect of the permission granted on appeal after an initial hearing allowed only the training ground to be built.

North End said the building of the training ground at Ingol was dependant on the finance gained from building and selling the houses.

What happens now with the Ingol site remains to be seen, with PNE owning the land where the training ground was to be built having purchased that from Hemmings for £1.5m.

The new site at Euxton is impressive, certainly a big upgrade on Springfields.

It boasts a gym, hydrotherapy facilities, big dressing room areas - space was tight at Springfields - and office space.

Wigan being placed in administration in July provided the opportunity for PNE to buy the training ground.

The administrators at Wigan are raising funds to pay football creditors before selling the club, with a number of players sold recently.

Selling the Euxton site will provide the administrators with a good chunk of cash, with Wigan's squad moving back to train at their Christopher Park facility in Standish.

Their first-team trained there for many years before moving to Euxton - Wigan's academy remained at Christopher Park in the meantime.