How the FA helped US Soccer build its new home
The FA's Staffordshire base opened in 2012 and has been credited with playing a key role in the subsequent revival of England men's and women's teams. US Soccer officials visited the site as part of a fact-finding mission when designing their own version, which will host the national team's pre World Cup camp. FA officials are said to have been happy to share knowledge with their US counterparts, who also visited the training grounds of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.
"There's lots to learn from around the world, but the US is different," added Batson. "We're really big, both geographically and in numbers of people. We think that really having a home for the first time for soccer in America is going to be transformative for us.
" Batson also paid tribute to US Soccer's former sporting director Matt Crocker, who was previously the FA's former head of teams, based at St George's Park. Welshman Crocker was responsible for appointing Mauricio Pochettino and Emma Hayes as head coaches of the US men's and women's senior national teams respectively, but left last month to take up a similar role at the Saudi Arabia football federation. "Matt and team have done an incredible job of taking us from where we were to where we are now from a strategy standpoint… and that gives us the foundation to be able to carry forward...
around how do we support the entire soccer ecosystem in the United States to be successful," said Batson. The World Cup line-up is complete - here's what you need to know Our World Cup host 'is Fifa, not Trump or America' - Iran US Soccer hopes the consistency provided by a central training hub and development strategy helps it to capitalise on co-hosting of this summer's expanded World Cup, alongside Mexico and Canada, even if much of the build-up has been overshadowed by concerns over the unprecedented costs to fans, and various security issues. Describing it as "an incredible opportunity for us to transform what soccer looks like in America", Batson claims it will show that the US "is now a soccer nation.
What makes soccer in America unique is that we are the challenger sport in our country and we are the challenger country in our sport. " The Football Supporters' Association has said that fans are being "fleeced" as a result of Fifa's ticketing strategy. BBC Sport has plotted a route through the group stage and found that England supporters would need about £6,500 each or £13,000 for two.