Monday 9 October 2017 16:58, UK
Five years after St George's Park was opened, England boss Gareth Southgate says its impact should not be measured in trophies.
England in 2012 was one of the biggest countries in the footballing world without a national centre and Southgate, who managed the Under-21s for three years from 2013, benefited directly from the facilities in Burton and says it was about time the FA invested in such a project.
"I think it was Howard Wilkinson who purchased the land originally and the vision of having a national football centre was 100% the right thing," said Southgate.
"We heard about Clairefontaine in France and we heard about Coverciano in Italy as being the places that coaches went to develop. We now have our own centre to do that."
"This was something that had to happen. For a nation of our size not to have a national football centre was incredible really."
The 330-acre site cost £105m and is home to England's 28 national teams. The facilities include 13 outdoor pitches, one of which is a replica of the Wembley surface, a full-size indoor 3G pitch and a state-of-the-art sports science department.
Some 1,398 coaches have attended UEFA courses since the site was opened and Southgate says developing coaches is as important to England's success as developing players.
"Coaches that emerge from that system, as well as players, will also be a judgement of success. It can't just be about trophies because you can win trophies without doing the right things," Southgate told Sky Sports News.
Founding chairman David Sheepshanks believes the FA is seeing improvements.
"The primary focus is on the senior men's team and the senior women's team," he said. "But the development team and the age groups are all incredibly important in the family of football."
England's Under-20s were crowned world champions this summer and the Under-19s won the European Championships as well, two trophies that Sheepshanks says illustrates "a really good school report" for the national performance centre.
