SWINDON Town manager Phil Brown says the prospect of an impressive new training facility can only bode well for the club – both off the field as well as on it.

Last week, Town unveiled details of their proposed new training centre in Highworth on the site of the former Twelve Oaks Golf Club.

The new complex includes approximately 26,000 square feet of a purpose-built training centre, gymnasium and headquarters offices, as well as eight grass training pitches and a full size all-weather illuminated pitch, which will be available for community use throughout the year.

Today, the club will be holding a community consultation event in the council offices at Gilberts Lane in Highworth between 9.30am-2pm, where plans of the proposals will be on display and representatives from both the club and the consultant team will be available to deal with questions.

Brown believes the intention to unifying every aspect of the club into a smart new location represents ‘joined-up thinking’ at Town.

“It takes me back to my days when I was with Sam (Allardyce) at Bolton Wanderers and we were thinking about the Premier League and thinking bigger than what the club was, to tell the truth,” said Brown.

“The football and the business side of things got together and forged a partnership and went forward as one.

“That is what you have got to do. You have got to have that unity behind the vision.

“The chairman, the owners, the people that put the money in, and the football side – the manager, the players – all of those things have got to have joined-up thinking, and that’s what it appears to be here at the moment.

“One thing I will say about the owner is that we have got no debt, and now looking at buying and developing an area which will be a great training ground complex.

“That site, for me, marks a very exciting time for Swindon Town, and it is lovely to be the manager that possibly could go into that new training ground.”

Brown has little doubt that players will be impressed by the club’s prospective new base and believes that it could have a major impact when it comes to potential recruitment.

Having only been appointed at the Energy Check County Ground on a permanent basis this summer, former Premier League manager Brown hopes he is still at the helm if and when the plans come to fruition.

“It is almost like a sales pitch. It is something you can give to prospective players that are coming into the club that you have this vision of the club going forward into League One, into the Championship and beyond. But you can’t do it without your own training ground,” said Brown.

“You can attract bigger players that want to go on this journey with you to wherever you want to take it.

“The initial thought was there before me, I am just on the ride. Hopefully I will be the manager that goes into that training ground and takes the team into a higher division.”