Spurs head groundsman hints at future training ground expansion for Tottenham Women

It’s the international break, so the news slows down to a trickle while we wait on Tottenham Hotspur players to return from their national team duties. That gives us an opportunity to share a few stories that might not always make it above the surface during the grind of the regular season.

Take this video. This is the third part of an interview between Darren Baldwin, head of playing surfaces and estates at Tottenham, and the YouTube channel for Turf Matters, a groundskeeping trade magazine. There’s a lot of “shop talk” in this video, but it’s an interesting look at what it means to take care of the pitch at Spurs’ new stadium.

If you’re into grass — and honestly, who isn’t amirite — this is a pretty informative video that really gets down to the roots of what it takes to take care of the surfaces at the new ground. Considering the technology at play with regards to the retractable pitch, it’s honestly pretty interesting.

However, the real interesting bit comes at the end, when Baldwin is asked about potential future developments at Spurs and in their training center.

“Well, I’m not sure. They’ve taken on Tottenham Hotspur Women this year [as] professionals. They’ve always been associated with us, as Spurs Ladies as they were known. They’ve now come on board as full time professionals.

“At the moment Enfield [training center] is pretty much maxed out as far as the amount of teams and the usage. We own a bit of the land around there so I’d guess that in the near future we’ll be looking at potential developments that we can do to house them.”

This is hardly an official statement of activity, but it does provide some tantalizing hints at what’s to come. While the Women can and do use the training facilities at Hotspur Way, it’s clear from Baldwin’s comments that they don’t train there on a regular basis. However, if Spurs are able to expand the training ground to include the Women, it will mean greater access to the outstanding facilities and represents a significant investment in the future of women’s football at Tottenham.

That’s all in the future, but there’s been a lot of change with the Women just over the past year. It seems promising that Spurs are actively supporting their women’s program and are viewing them as part of the club’s future, even if that future may be a little ways off yet.