Queens Park Rangers reveal new training facility

Daniel Sedlarevic14/08/2023 5:55 am15/08/2023

Image credit: PanStadia & Arena Management

English Championship football club Queens Park Rangers has presented its brand new cutting-edge practice facility.

The facility situated in Heston, a neighbourhood of the London Borough of Hounslow, will house the club’s first team, Under 23s, and academy teams beginning in the 2023–24 season.

The facility has been designed by Studio Zoppini Architects and delivered by a project team including: global design engineering consultants Buro Happold, planning advisors HGH Consulting, and contract administrators Arcadis.

The building’s domestic profile permits an extruded form that allows for internal zoning and spatial appeal in important places. The primary social areas, the gym and eating areas offer views of the practise fields and the surrounding countryside but are separated from the entrance by a wall.

The orientation and exterior of the building have been planned to incorporate natural ventilation and lighting, incorporating passive design features and improving working conditions for all employees, including players.

Full multidisciplinary engineering services were provided by Buro Happold, resulting in a project with outstanding sustainability credentials. The facility uses a lot of air source heat pumps and has 922 square metres of solar photovoltaic panels for on-site renewable energy regeneration. The structural engineering team at Buro Happold also reduced the project’s carbon footprint by pressing for cement substitution where appropriate and suggesting lightweight partitions to reduce the pressure on the steelwork.

Steve Macey, director at Buro Happold, stated via press release:

“It’s fantastic that QPR’s new training ground is complete and ready for its teams to start training ahead of the new football season. We’ve been involved over a number of years to consolidate the club’s first team with the academy onto a single sustainable site, and this is the culmination of all that hard work.”

QPR’s innovation is a step in the right direction as technology advances as a crucial part of the game, with their new facility demonstrating this.

QPR will focus on their upcoming EFL Cup tie against Norwich on August 17.

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Football NSW 2025 Registrations Surge as Season Approaches

Noah Coopey19/03/2025 6:30 am18/03/2025

Image credit: Football NSW website

Football NSW community registrations have rocketed beyond the 200,000 marks, keeping pace to eclipse the record numbers set in 2024, as the code’s popularity continues to boom across the state.

Australia’s most populous state has been breaking records the last couple years with rising participation numbers. This year continues to solidify that trend.

Junior participation is leading the charge with more than 115,000 children aged 5-12 already signed up with local clubs as the winter football season draws near.

This sustained growth follows an exceptional 2024 season that witnessed a 9% increase in overall player registrations, with female participation skyrocketing by an impressive 17%.

Football NSW CEO John Tsatsimas was particularly proud with the increased junior and female representation.

“It’s pleasing to see the healthy number of juniors registering for the upcoming community football season,” Tsatsimas commented via official Football NSW Press release.

“It’s equally great to once again see female participation at the forefront of our growth.

“Our club volunteers and Associations have done a tremendous job in overseeing registrations within their local communities and we’re looking forward to seeing the new season get underway in April.”

Not just grassroots football in NSW, but nationwide, football participation has seen huge growth in youth and female participation.

A strong NSW football environment at the forefront of this surge is key to maintaining and cultivating participation.

Though with every increase in participating numbers, the community-based clubs bear the brunt of more demand.

Now more than ever, associations and clubs need sufficient support from the state Football federation if they want to continue these exciting results.

Though time will tell how much of an increase in players there will be, the report is promising.

How to maintain the players and bring more into the footballing community in the coming years will be the next big questions for all levels of football in the state and in the country.

Liverpool FC and Adidas Reignite Partnership

Kristy Nicolaou19/03/2025 6:15 am16/03/2025

Image Credit: Liverpool FC website

Liverpool FC and Adidas have announced a new multi-year partnership, agreeing to the return as the club’s official kit supplier from August 1, 2025.

This renewed collaboration with Adidas will see the iconic brand supply match kits, training gear, and culture wear for the club’s men’s, women’s, and academy teams, as well as LFC Foundation staff.

This alliance marks the revival of a storied relationship, with Adidas having previously provided kits during some of the Reds’ most successful eras.

Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan commented on the importance of this partnership and what it means for the club.

“Everyone at the club is incredibly excited to welcome adidas back into the LFC family. We have enjoyed fantastic success together in the past and created some of the most iconic LFC kits of all time,” he said via press release.

“Adidas and Liverpool share an ambition of success and we couldn’t be more excited to partner together again as we look forward to creating more incredible kits to help drive on-pitch performance. We’d like to thank Nike for their support over the last five years and wish them well for the future.”

The initial collaboration from 1985 to 1996 saw Liverpool secure multiple domestic league titles and FA Cup victories, while the subsequent partnership from 2006 to 2012 delivered further silverware, cementing adidas as a fan-favourite kit provider.

Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden expressed his excitement for the returning collaboration.

“We are extremely excited that adidas and Liverpool Football Club are teaming up once again. The club is one of the biggest and most iconic names in world football with a huge fan base,” he said via press release.

“The jerseys worn during previous partnerships are some of the greatest ever created.”

With the three stripes returning to Anfield, excitement is building ahead of the unveiling of Liverpool’s new home and away kits.

The designs will be officially revealed through Liverpool FC and adidas channels, with fans able to purchase the fresh range from the start of August.