St George's Park near Burton is celebrating its fifth anniversary today, October 9 - and general manager Holly Murdoch has revealed just how big and exciting an operation looking after the home of English football really is.
The National Football Centre in Rangemore - which currently oversees the development of first-team and academy football within the England set-up - was officially opened on October 9, 2012 by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
As well as 28 England men's and women's teams of varying age groups, Burton Albion also has use of the centre, with the Brewers' first-team and academy sides all granted permission to train at the £105 million complex.
As well as being the training base for the England squad, with stars like Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford regulars at the venue, it has also hosted illustrious sides such as Barcelona and Monaco during pre-season training visits in recent years.
As part of its anniversary celebrations, the Football Association (FA) today invited local schools from Burton to take part in a 'five-hour' five-a-side' tournament at St George's Park.
Pupils from William Shrewsbury School, and de Ferrers and Paulet High schools all enjoyed an afternoon of 'futsal' with commemorative medals awarded by various members of staff at St George's Park. The head of grassroots coaching Les Howie and England under-17 assistant manager Mark Dobson were also present.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and Staffordshire Police were also invited to bring teams along to play a match, before giving interviews to Sky Sports News - which went live every hour with updates from the anniversary celebrations.
Dobson - who guided his Young Lions to European Championship success in the summer - was also on hand to outline why the centre has played such an integral role in developing the stars of the future.
General manager Murdoch, meanwhile, explained what a bustling environment England's National Football Centre is.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, she said: "It's a fun challenge, and it's an amazing place to work. I'm lucky to be here. Every day is different.
"We are in 330 acres of beautiful Staffordshire countryside.
"There's the hotel run by Hilton, there are 15 different training surfaces, indoor pitches and an indoor sports hall, and the performance centre. There is a huge amount on site.
"This is the FA's national football centre, so the priority is all the England teams.
"It is also used for the centre of coaching education, but we also invite other sports and businesses here to use the facilities. We try to work with everyone and anyone.
"It is obviously great for football. We've had teams like Galatasary and Barcelona train here - and it's used a lot for pre-season training.
"But the performance centre provides residential rehab, and St George's Park is a 365-day operation.
"There is a huge amount of interaction between squads.
"From the senior men's side to the women's under-16s, they are all under one roof, sharing knowledge and sharing expereiences. That has to add to the nation playing football."
Burton Albion's youngsters can aspire to that, and more, with St George's Park on their doorstep, a mere seven miles from the Pirelli Stadium in the town.
That is something that academy manager Dan Robinson attested to back in May after the Brewers academy agreed a new partnership with the centre, meaning the next generation of Albion stars now have the chance to train on the same turf graced by the likes of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, and now England regulars Jordan Henderson and Dele Alli.
"If we want to develop Championship-level footballers then we have to have the facilities to support that development", said Robinson.
"As well as having the right surfaces to work on for the players, it will help us with our recruitment.
"We are surrounded by some big clubs and in order to compete we have to have some points of difference. Hopefully when they come and see where we are training it will be a big draw.
"This time last season the under-18s were training at Marston's. Next year it will be all at St George's Park.
"On Wednesday nights we will be training our under-nines to under-16s in the indoor 3G pitch at St George's Park – that is an unbelievable facility. You couldn't get that kind of opportunity at most clubs."
