By Ben Banks

Copyright glasgowworld

Peter Lawwell has hailed an important landmark for Celtic, as he joins Brendan Rodgers in celebrating the opening of a new training facility. The Premier Sports Cup holders face Partick Thistle – managed by ex-defender Mark Wilson – at Firhill on Sunday in an all-Glasgow quarter-final. It comes amid a quieter week at Parkhead after a 2-1 win at Kilmarnock on Sunday in the Premiership brought an end to a week of headlines dominated by fan revolting, with a 12th minutes protest held by large section of their support. Fan dismay with the board amid a poor transfer window, a lamented statement doubling down on their summer work and other matters is still rife, but Rodgers’ focus is on the park. Now ahead of the Thistle clash, Celtic have announced a “new state of the art Training Centre at Barrowfield is now complete, and the facility is now fully open for use by our Women’s team and Academies.” Lawwell – under fire from sections of the support – said: “We are sure that the new Barrowfield development will prove to be a really important milestone in the Club’s future. Celtic’s history is characterised by so many young players coming through the Club’s own development system, gracing the first-team and playing such an important role in our many successes throughout the years. “We want to improve further in this area and through the new facility, we will be striving for even more success, with the new high-quality centre giving our Academies and Women’s team every opportunity to flourish. While we had opportunities to develop facilities elsewhere, Celtic was born and has been raised in the East End of the City. It was very important for us that we maintained this important presence in the local community, in a place dear to our hearts and a place where so many Celtic Legends have been made.” Involved in the new complex based in Glasgow’s east-end are a new indoor arena with a full-sized IFA-approved artificial surfaces, a combination of outdoor natural grass and artificial pitches, state-of-the-art gym & fitness facilities, Office areas for Celtic Academy & Celtic FC Women, ew changing facilities, medical suites for player treatment & rehab, sports science centre, analysis centre and classroom/learning facilities. Rodgers said: “I think it’s really important for our women and the young players to have a facility that allows them to develop, especially in the more difficult winter months. Being indoors means greater coaching time and a stronger focus on development for the young players. It’s a great facility that players and staff can really look forward to being in. Players who come through your own system always give you that little bit more, that extra 1%. It’s vital that we have these players in our squad. Another under pressure, CEO Michael Nicholson, said: “The new Barrowfield Centre will be vital in achieving two key elements of the club’s strategy, namely supporting young player development and delivering investment in women’s football. We are sure these new, high-quality facilities will be crucial in delivering real benefit to the Club for years to come across both the boys and girls academy structures and our women’s first team environment. “So many Celtic heroes have followed the path from Barrowfield, through our academies to the Celtic first team and now, in this new setting, we hope to give our young players and Celtic FC Women even greater opportunities to excel and deliver continued success to the club and our supporters.” Celtic FC Women’s Manager Elena Sadiku said: “In terms of doing your best and being fully prepared as a team, it’s important to keep the quality high in everything we do – whether that’s media, analysis, or training sessions. Facilities like this leave no excuses for anyone; they make sure we deliver the best performances and are properly prepared for games. As head coach, having all of this means we can give the players the best preparation possible – to help them develop, get results at the weekend, and, most importantly, to create the conditions where the standards are high and they have to meet them. Overall, there are no excuses to be the best we can be.