July 29, 2022, 02:49 PM
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Local football club Lion City Sailors has officially opened its new S$10 million training centre.
This is the first integrated football training centre in Singapore.
Located along Mattar Road in MacPherson, the centre is home to the Sailors' professional men's and women's team, as well as the club academy's scholars and trainees.
Lion City Sailors is Singapore's only privatised football club.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Key facilities
Football pitches
Spanning 28,000 square meters, the training centre features five football pitches— one hybrid 11-a-side pitch, one artificial turf 11-a-side pitch, and three 7-a-side pitches.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Besides the football pitches, the centre will also feature a fully-equipped gym, physiotherapy rooms, a video analytics room, team locker rooms, a recreation room, as well as study rooms for academy trainees.
Gym
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Physiotherapy rooms
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Locker rooms (for first team players)
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Locker rooms (for academy players)
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Recreation room
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
Access for the public on Level 2
As the training centre is designed to mirror facilities of the world's best football clubs, only the Sailors staff and players will have access to the pitches and training areas on Level 1.
However, the public can enjoy access to shared spaces on Level 2 of the centre.
These shared spaces include a café and a viewing area for curated events and programmes.
There are also community-friendly spaces where grassroots activities for residents of MacPherson can be hosted.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
The training centre is a four-minute walk from Mattar MRT station.
Opening ceremony
The centre was officially launched on Thursday (Jul. 28) evening.
The opening ceremony was attended by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, as well as Senior Parliamentary Secretary for MCCY Eric Chua and Member of Parliament for MacPherson SMC Tin Pei Ling.
Lion City Sailors Chairman Forrest Li, Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Lim Kia Tong and deputy president Bernard Tan, and SJI International chairman Roy Quek were also in attendance.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Speaking at the ceremony, Tong said the training centre will "complement and strengthen our overall plans to bring more high-quality sports facilities and infrastructure to Singaporeans in the coming years".
He added: "Good facilities and a strong infrastructure, coupled with the belief in the ability to nurture young talent, are paramount for the development of football in Singapore.""I am glad that LCS continues to demonstrate its long-term commitment to supporting and developing our local football scene through this state-of-the-art facility."
Li, founder of Sea, the parent company of Garena and Shopee, said that the training centre is "a symbol of our commitment to revitalising local football".
Li added that the centre is built because "infrastructure is the basis of any good ecosystem".
Top image courtesy of Lion City Sailors.
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