PROPERTY magnate Eddie Mitchell has opened the UK’s first technical football centre in Bournemouth, one year after he was lying in a medically induced coma.

On September 2 2018, Mr Mitchell’s heart stopped twice and he collapsed in a food store in Poole.

In the days after, he was operated on at Southampton General Hospital where he underwent ten-and-a-half hours of open-heart surgery.

He then lay in a medically induced coma for three weeks.

One year on, Mr Mitchell has now opened TFC, an indoor football centre, home to some of the world’s top football training equipment by Elite Skills Arena (ESA).

ESA, owned by Mr Mitchell, has been running for four years and was set up to develop and manufacture football training products.

This was a new challenge for the businessman who wanted to combine his love of football with architecture and has seen success with sales across Europe and the United States.

Now his equipment is available for anyone to use at the new fitness and football centre, based at Iford PlayGolf in Christchurch.

Mr Mitchell said: “We are very excited at the prospect of footballers of all ages, genders and abilities to come and join the centre where you will be able to work-out or train on all Elite Skills Arena state-of-the art products as well as improve your footballing skills.

“ESA products have been developed over the last five years. They have received expert advice from top football coaches around the world to create different products that enhance passing, receiving vision, split second decision making, awareness, dribbling, shooting, close ball control, quick feet and many more attributes used in a game of football.

“TFC are proud to be the first, solely dedicated, indoor centre to help accelerate a player’s technical skills through realistic match situations whilst addressing these technical skills and enjoying a different work-out with a ball.

“You don’t have to be a top player to use the products at TFC. You can play against the products or compete with friends, join the TFC leader boards and watch your fitness and scores improve whilst enjoying the work-out which also stimulates the mind.”