REPRESENTATIVES from Middlesbrough Football Club, including former manager Bryan Robson, travelled to Europe's finest clubs to research ideas for the club's training ground.

And the end result of trips to the likes of Ajax and many others is the impressive £7m complex set 20-miles from Middlesbrough in the leafy village of Hurworth, near Darlington.

Set deep in the heart of County Durham countryside, Rockliffe Park was purchased in 1997 and has been constructed to compete with any other training facility in the world.

The Training HQ and Sports Hall have been built with future in mind and the modern facilities and techniques that are now being used have already become the envy of other Premierships clubs.

Now a state-of-the-art sports science department and gym, rehabilitation areas and massage rooms, spacious changing rooms, saunas, steam rooms and Jacuzzis and a comfortable restaurant are just some of its assets.

The sports science department has its disposal modern machines to monitor everything from weight to percentages of body fat, and much, much more.

Officially opened in October 1998, just ten months after work started, the 160-acre site also had eight quality grass pitched as well as two outdoor synthetic surfaces for training in all conditions.

And when the winter months arrive the impressive Sports Hall offers a massive indoor playing area made from revolutionary artificial surface called Fieldturf.

It allows for goalkeepers to dive without the risk of injury and also for proper studded football boots to be worn.

But it's not just footballers who benefit from the excellent facilities. Extensive office space and a spacious reception area are in place for administration staff and visitors alike.

Taylor Woodrow, the people who constructed the Riverside Stadium, were the main contractors at the training ground, with Crown House Engineering the main sub-contractors. Local firm PMPS provided project management services.

With the first two phases complete plans are being put in place to develop the rest of the site including a vast manor house which was constructed in 1863 and was home to Lord Southampton and his family. It is hoped this could become a five-star hotel facility.

In the early 1950s the family sold the house to the St John of God Order, which turned it into a hospital. The house has remained empty ever since the order relocated to Scorton.