Leicester City Football Club’s new state-of-the-art training ground is set to be amongst the world’s leading training facilities. Construction and development giants McLaren Group are responsible for designing and building the grounds which will feature a full-size indoor artificial pitch, 11 full-size outdoor pitches, eight smaller pitches, five training grids and two goalkeeping areas, as well as a hydrotherapy pool, media centre and offices. As a small but significant aspect of the awe-inspiring £103m project, Tuffa was tasked with manufacturing a petrol tank for the site. The tank will have the all-important task of fuelling the fleet of maintenance vehicles required to look after the LCFC training grounds.
From ponds to pitches - maintaining 185 acres of prime land
The site chosen for this huge facility is a 185-acre former golf course – 9 holes of which is being retained for the footballers and staff. The project also aspires to high standards of conservation, having rehomed 348 great-crested newts (a European protected species) and hundreds of other pond wildlife affected by the build, replanting 4,000 trees, and then planting an additional 38,000 trees.
Altogether, the scale and diversity of the grounds is truly epic and will require a tremendous amount of upkeep to stay in top condition. The ground’s football pitches will need to be of a quality which replicates Premier League stadiums to give the players the most realistic experience. The golf course too will require constant and fastidious attention. Then, there are the conservation areas, a multitude of lawns, plants and shrubs which add to the grandeur of the 185-acre delux complex.
Fuelling the LCFC maintenance fleet
LCFC employ a small army of groundskeepers tasked with the job of fighting back the weeds, strategising over grass care, and conserving every inch of the 185-acre plot to the highest standards. Just like the footballers, the next generation of groundskeepers will use the extensive grounds to master their craft in preparation for maintaining Premier League pitches. LCFC know it’s the team behind the footballers who win goals and to that end provide the groundskeepers with the best equipment money can buy. This includes a fleet of around 30 John Deere maintenance vehicles consisting of gators and ride-on mowers. With so many maintenance vehicles requiring between 40 and 50 litres of fuel to fill, it was clear to McLaren that the grounds required a reliable petrol dispensing tank onsite.
Fortunately, the club is already well acquainted with a reputable tank manufacturer. In 2018 Tuffa manufactured a tank and water bowser for LCFC’s new Broadcast Media Centre so was already known to the club for reliability and high-quality workmanship. Once again, Tuffa was set to manufacturing a tank for LCFC with McLaren choosing Tuffa’s 975 litre petrol tank. As standard, these steel tanks are manufactured in accordance with the Blue book guidelines and DSEAR (Dangerous Substances & Explosive Atmospheres Regulations). Because the tanks are fire-proofed and bunded they also offer protection to the site and environment. Additionally, McLaren chose to upgrade the tank with a Hytek Alpha FC10 forecourt-style dispenser and fuel management system with passcodes to activate the pump and a purpose-built plinth for the tower.
Premier League petrol tank
With the tank delivered and installed we caught up with McLaren Construction’s Design Manager Spish Buja to ask about his experience with Tuffa:
“The communication and service levels from Tuffa have been excellent throughout the entire process. The 975 litre petrol tank fits our requirements exactly, the delivery was tiptop and the installation was straightforward.” – Spish Buja, Design Manager
Tuffa are proud to be a part of the state-of-the-art £103m build which is now near completion despite the huge delays caused by COVID-19. We trust that our humble petrol tank will serve Leicester City Football Club grounds staff well as a small but essential part of maintaining the training grounds and adding to the success of the inspiring team which in 2016 defied all odds (literally at 5000-1) to win the Premier League.
Find out more about Tuffa Tanks on their member profile page here
Member-created content 3 years ago | From members