Bespoke Furniture for Stoke City FC’s Training Facilities

The objectives

This significant investment in SCFC’s training ground is aimed at taking the club to ‘the next level’. It involved years of planning and took 15 months to build.  From the first team’s locker room, treatment rooms and storage units to boot hangers and oak slatted benches, we worked with the project team to create functional, stylish and seamless bespoke furniture and accessories for the team.

The entire project was constructed using materials and finishes requested by the customer to fit with their wider scheme.

The process

It was essential that these units, benches and lockers for each area of SCFC’s new training facility were created to fit this unique sporting environment and that it promotes and supports the club’s culture.   As part of the process, the team at LiDR built a sample locker to test the concept for the client.  This enabled them to view it on our site prior to manufacturing the full run.

First team locker room

The First Team Locker Room including bespoke long lockers, a laundry island unit, a supplement unit and credenza.  The first team lockers were purpose made to the customer requirements and included:

• An inbuilt power socket
• Wireless charging
• Hanging rail and hooks with an open shoe compartment that sits below the padded bench

Coach lockers

SCFC required some bespoke lockers for the coaches to store their kit and belongings. These provided a nice separate space aside from the first team locker room, where essentials can be safely secured.

Kit distribution room

This room features pigeon hole style units on two walls.  This allows the football kits to be separated, stored and distributed. There are also slimline draws to store letters and numbers for shirt printing to allow the kit team to fully prepare the kit in one space. In addition to this, we created larger sets of shelves for the bulkier items.

Boot room and lobby

The lobby entrance features two oak slatted benches on either side, that lead into the boot room. Here, we designed some boot hangers for the wall that keeps the football boots hung up and away from the floor space, creating a neat and tidy environment.  A sink unit was also included.

Multi faith area

This multi-faith area is designed to support player wellbeing and accommodate religious practices.  For this space, we manufactured a unit to include seating and shoe storage.

Fitted kitchen units

We created fitted units and sink units to the doctor’s room, treatment room and boot room.  These included worktops, kitchen sink and cupboards.

Recreational area

The space for a breakout area was pretty impressive and here, we designed and manufactured bespoke banquette seating, poseur tables, and bespoke pool cue/darts storage units.

The result

LiDR’s state of the art bespoke design and manufacturing process means that we were able to work closely with the project team to understand their exact requirements. The result had to be practical, clean and sleek with every part of the interior contributing to the development and growth of Stoke City FC.  We were thrilled with the outcome and the football club’s investment in these elite training facilities will be a huge asset to the team, players and coaches.

As featured in an article on Stoke on Trent Live in February 2026, (Stoke City’s £10m investment comes ‘with strings attached’ – Stoke-on-Trent Live) Mark Robins, Stoke City Manager says:

“It is awesome, awesome.  I said before that it’s good but actually living in there is outstanding. Everything is obviously new and shiny and all of those things but it comes with strings attached: you don’t just spend £10m on a facility at a training ground that’s already got a hugely impressive building in the first instance. The investment has been made to try to take us to a different level. It is an elite building, an elite environment.

He added: “You’ve got all the tools at your disposal, all the tech. The infrastructure is really solid and it is specifically for the use of the first team, which makes a difference in itself.  The environment is second to none. It’s absolutely outstanding and when you see it you’ll agree. It’s what we do with it which is the important thing. “

Joe Walsh, Senior Site Manager at Speller Metcalfe said:

“The quality and finish of LiDR works on Stoke City’s first team training pavilion is immense, that and the commitment from the LiDR team to deliver on a fast moving project with a demanding programme needing close coordination and working alongside other trades has been a real breath of fresh air and a massive benefit to the overall finish we have achieved

Eleanor’s commitment to our client’s wishes in managing last minute changes while still maintaining the delivery and quality again really was impressive.

The final product speaks for itself and screams quality.  LiDR Contract Furniture will be on the top of any of my future projects tender lists that require bespoke and fitted furniture”

Fergus Meredith, Assistant Quantity Surveyor added:

“I would also just like to take the time to thank you & all of the LiDR team for all of your efforts over the past 12 months on what has been a very challenging project for everyone involved. You have certainly been one of very few stand out subcontractors on the scheme & everyone at Speller Metcalfe & Stoke City have been very impressed with everything you have done. I look forward to working with you on the next one, whenever & wherever that may be.”