By Frank McAvennie

24th Sep, 2023 | 11:00am

Expert 'baffled' by Celtic plans after confirmed news

Celtic desperately need to redevelop their Barrowfield training complex.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former Hoops striker Frank McAvennie, who used to train on the Barrowfield pitch, was shocked it has taken the club so long to revamp it.

Last week (15 September), the club confirmed that they have approved significant investment into a state-of-the-art re-development of Barrowfield.

The planning permission for the work was granted back in 2021 after an initial announcement of the project in 2019.

The new complex will host the boys’ and girls’ academies as well as a dedicated training centre for the women’s first team and will include state of the art gym and fitness facilities, an analysis centre, and a combination of natural and artificial pitches.

The work will reportedly cost the club around £20million and the work is set to begin early next year.

When asked what he made of the plans to revamp the complex, McAvennie told Football Insider: “It is the way forward.

“The youth academy, the women will all be playing at Barrowfield once it is finished and that is going to be their place.

“The training ground is the first team complex, keep everyone else away.

“I think it is a great idea especially for people coming back from injury because it is just down the road from Celtic Park and they have got to play on decent surfaces.

“That is where I trained and the fact that it is just getting redeveloped now is baffling, it needed done when I played.“

In other news, Celtic smash club record with £51m payout.