Irish's home matches are played at the Madejski Stadium although Sunbury remains their training centre (Getty)

London Irish are to move to a new centre of excellence as a replacement for their Sunbury training ground.

The new facility, to be built on a site in West London, will provide a training ground for the professional squad, academy and amateur club.

In addition, the Exiles have announced plans to raise �6.25m to secure the land for the new rugby centre.

The funds are needed for the necessary planning applications and to provide working capital requirements.

Interview: London Irish chairman John Conlan

The club says it has outgrown the ground at Sunbury, which has been their home since 1931.

Irish will continue to play home matches at the Madejski Stadium of Premier League football club Reading.

It's a very strong demonstration in our confidence and our commitment to both London Irish and professional rugby London Irish chairman John Conlan

John Conlan, chairman of London Irish, told BBC Radio Berkshire although it was sad to see the end of an era, it was a necessary move.

He said: "It's been our traditional home for a number of years, but it simply is not big enough to meet our needs.

"We don't have enough pitches or enough dressing rooms. The alternatives we're looking at are two-and-a-half or even three times as large.

"We are putting in place the future of the whole club. Yes, there's a certain emotional attachment to Sunbury, but it's our responsibilty to ensure that we can meet the needs of all sections of the club for the future.

Chairman John Conlan sees this as a vital step in securing the future of the club (Getty)

"We're quite advanced in negotiations on several sites not far from Sunbury which are large enough, available and most importantly, where we are confident we can secure planning permission required to develop what we need."

Conlan explained that the development of a new training facility is just part of a wider phase in securing the future of the club.

"We wanted to secure the long-term stadium agreement that we did with John Madejski," he added.

"The next step in the plan is to secure the long-term finances for London Irish and this fundraising that we've announced is the start of that particular process.

"It's a very strong demonstration in our confidence and our commitment to both London Irish and professional rugby.

"This fund-raising is to make sure we're stable for the next two or three years."