The special requests made by England‘s stars to make themselves feel at home at their five-star Euros base this summer have been revealed.
Gareth Southgate‘s men are due to touch down in Germany for Euro 2024 in the coming hours, and will be staying at the Weimarer Land Spa and Golf resort in Blankenhain – a town with a population of less than 7,000 – throughout the tournament.
The luxury resort, which Mail Sport took an exclusive behind-the scenes tour of last month, cost England an estimated £850,000 as they beat off competition from the Netherlands and Austria, and boasts two Michelin-star restaurants and the 2,500-square-metre spa known as the ‘Lindentherme’.
The owner, Matthias Grafe, has also opened up on the requests made by the players to transform their experience.
When asked to disclose the main issue raised by the Three Lions, Grafe told Bild: ‘Most questions were about the air conditioning in the rooms – probably after the experience in Qatar. We had to retrofit one room.
England will be staying at the Weimarer Land Span and Golf Resort (pictured) throughout Euro 2024
The five-star resort boasts three golf courses to keep the players entertained during their downtime
Matthias Grafe (pictured) is the owner of the resort, and has revealed the special requests made by the players, with air conditioning and access to English TV being main concerns
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‘We also ensured that English television was broadcast via satellite in the rooms. We also blacked out the glass fronts and windows so that the notorious yellow press couldn’t take pictures of the boys.’
A number of England’s players enjoy a round of gold in their downtime, and they will have plenty of opportunities to do that at Weimarer Land, which has three golf courses plus a padel court and even a robot called Robbie, who only speaks German, to serve the team and collect their dishes.
Grafe confirmed there will also be as many as 35 chefs on hand to cater to the players’ needs, while rooms will also be given a personal touch with family photos set to be put up on the walls in each room.
‘We have 35 chefs here who prepare everything the English want based on their menu,’ he continued.
‘I’m sure there will be hamburgers at some point. The rooms of the players, coaches and support staff are also decorated with personal items.
‘For example, we received family photos and other personal items in advance, which we then used to decorate the rooms.’
The England team is set to have everything they need away from the football pitch, but the resort is also desperate to provide everything they need on it, with the training surface at the venue set to be of the highest quality.
‘The English greenkeeper was with us a few weeks ago and said that there was only one lawn that was better than ours: his in Wembley,’ Grafe said.
‘And this is exactly the mixture that was sown, then scarified and maintained – also in consultation with the DFB, which was here beforehand.’
England will get to work on the training pitch this week ahead of their Euros opener against Serbia on Sunday, with WAGs due to be kept at a ‘secure distance’.
England will have access to high quality training pitches, with the grass approved by Wembley groundstaff
Gareth Southgate and his players will soon get to work at their resort, with WAGs to be kept at a ‘secure distance’ to avoid a repeat of England’s stay in Germany for the 2006 World Cup
Southgate has ensured significant others that they will get the chance to see the players, but is set to assess when and how once the tournament gets underway.
The England boss is keen to avoid a repeat of the national team’s last visit to Germany for a major tournament back in 2006 when they stayed in the usually quiet spa town of Baden-Baden.
On that occasion, the WAGs created as many headlines as the players, with Rio Ferdinand later admitting ‘we became a bit of a circus’ following the team’s quarter-final exit on penalties to Portugal.
England will hope that doesn’t happen again this time and appear to have everything in place as they bid to go one step further than three years ago when they lost to Italy in the last Euros final at Wembley.
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