- First team move into newly refurbished Rush Green site
- Manager Slaven Bilic delighted with facilities for his team
- Training ground move caps off historic week for the Club
Alongside the historic move into the new Stadium and the progression into the play-off stage in the UEFA Europa League, the West Ham players have this week also enjoyed the benefits of moving into a brand new training ground.
Slaven Bilic, his backroom team and the first-team squad have made the short switch from Chadwell Heath to Rush Green, which was previously used by the Club's Academy and the players are already reaping the benefits.
The Hammers Board made it a priority to improve facilities across all areas and spent millions of pounds to ensure the players have the best facilities possible in the build-up to games.
The major refurb has been taking place during the summer and the players are now able to train on four brand new pitches and have top class facilities throughout the complex.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic says the new facilities at Rush Green are exactly what his team needs.
He explained: “Rush Green is exactly what me and my staff wanted. We were delighted to start at our new world class home with a great victory in Europe on Thursday and now we have training facilities that go hand in hand with the Stadium.
"The Club has done what we wanted so I have to thank the Chairmen and the Board.
“We wanted to make a very good, cosy training ground that the players would enjoy to go to a couple of hours before training and stay there two or three hours afterwards. Somewhere they can bring their kids sometimes.
"I’m really happy with the job they have done.”
West Ham United's Head of Medical and Sports Science Stijn Vandebroucke has no doubts the new training ground will help to get the best out of the players.
He said: “The whole training ground has been designed for the players and designed to be compact so that we keep the spirit which is so important at West Ham United. This is our identity.
“The dressing room is much bigger and we have great recovery for the players where they have a sauna and plunge pool.
“We have a big gym and a fantastic treatment room where all the players needs are catered for.
“We have also heavily invested in the quality of our pitches where we already have four to choose from and several more in the coming months.”
Head Groundsman Dougie Robertson is also thrilled with the changes that have taken place over the summer and feels the players will only increase their performance at their new training base.
Robertson said: “The changes are huge. The facilities that are now available really brings us into the big league and that is where the Club wants to be. The Club has done a fantastic job getting the players what they require and hopefully they can do the same in the league.
“We are incredibly fortunate that we will have different kind of pitches for the players to train on.
“We will have the old traditional fibre sand, the Desso pitches which we had at Upton Park and now the new Stadium and a new product called AirFibr which we are trialling in the rehab area and a specialist product which is proven to be softer for players coming back from injury.”