moved to a new home (the Stadium of Light) and club owner Bob Murray put forward proposals for a new world-class academy with the aim of securing Sunderland's long-term future.

The academy was to be built on acquired land opposite Sunderland's current training ground, on disused farmland in an area known as Whitburn Moor.

Local opposition was fierce, claiming that an area of rural wildlife would be destroyed and the green belt would be weakened, causing a merging of the conurbations of City of Sunderland and South Tyneside.

[3] In 1999 the club resubmitted a proposal, for the same site as the previous plan, but in which the height of the new developments would not be built any higher than the existing agricultural buildings.

New lighting technology would reduce the effect of floodlights on the local area, and extensive re-seeding would benefit wildlife on the site.

[4] Work began in November 2001, marked by a ground-breaking ceremony in January 2002 with England national football team manager Sven-Göran Eriksson.

[15] The addition of an indoor 'training barn' and an on-site hostel were seen by Sunderland to be essential requirements to keeping the site at Academy status.

[16] Sunderland submitted the application in May 2002,[17] and in August the plans were rejected by South Tyneside council, who said: We felt they were inappropriate for the green belt.

[16] In November of that year, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott rejected Sunderland's revised plans [19] claiming the new elements would "cause significant harm to the openness and visual amenity of this sensitive part of the green belt.

"[20] This ruling came despite Sunderland's argument that similar green belt developments at Manchester United, Arsenal and Middlesbrough had been accepted.

Chairman Niall Quinn announced proposals for a training barn which, following extensive consultation with local residents, would be built 5 metres lower than the original plan, making it no higher than the other academy buildings.

[24] During construction, Sunderland enlisted the help of famous Ecologist David Bellamy to advise in the development of the area surrounding the academy.