Criticism
The ground has attracted criticism from a number of groups. Local residents have criticised it on two occasions. In October 2001 it was reported at a parish council meeting that Arsenal players had not been involved with local initiatives, despite claiming during its planning phase that the ground would allow the club to develop links with the local community. Shenley Primary School reportedly failed to receive any visits from players despite repeated requests. The club responded by pointing to initiatives by its Ladies team to organise competitions at local grounds.
In 2005 a plan to develop new buildings and road links to the site was challenged by local residents who believed that it would lead to increased traffic and noise pollution in the area.
In May 2006 the Daily Telegraph newspaper criticised Arsenal's failure to develop young English players following a UEFA Champions League match in which they did not use a single English player. The paper reported that youth team opportunities was one of the main reasons for the Shenley ground receiving planning permission, citing a statement by the club that: "The Bell Lane site is within the Arsenal 'catchment area' and the club already has a very active youth policy in the area. In particular, the club currently works closely with 12 local clubs which would be maintained and enhanced if the Bell Lane proposal were to go ahead."
Read more about this topic: Shenley Training Centre
Famous quotes containing the word criticism:
“A friend of mine spoke of books that are dedicated like this: “To my wife, by whose helpful criticism ...” and so on. He said the dedication should really read: “To my wife. If it had not been for her continual criticism and persistent nagging doubt as to my ability, this book would have appeared in Harper’s instead of The Hardware Age.””
—Brenda Ueland (1891–1985)
“Cubism had been an analysis of the object and an attempt to put it before us in its totality; both as analysis and as synthesis, it was a criticism of appearance. Surrealism transmuted the object, and suddenly a canvas became an apparition: a new figuration, a real transfiguration.”
—Octavio Paz (b. 1914)
“...I wasn’t at all prepared for the avalanche of criticism that overwhelmed me. You would have thought I had murdered someone, and perhaps I had, but only to give her successor a chance to live. It was a very sad business indeed to be made to feel that my success depended solely, or at least in large part, on a head of hair.”
—Mary Pickford (1893–1979)