FC St. Pauli and the City of Hamburg agree ground-breaking expansion of the club training complex
Wednesday, 02. February 2022, 15:15 Uhr
A long-standing wish of FC St. Pauli is set to become a reality with the ground-breaking decision for a substantial expansion of the club’s training complex over the next few years. The plans agreed by club officials with the local authorities provide for the full integration of the youth academy on site. A letter of intent to this effect was signed by representatives of the City of Hamburg and the club’s presidential board on Wednesday.
The decision ensures that FC St. Pauli will remain in full compliance with the stipulations of the German Football League requiring clubs to maintain a certain number of training pitches for youth teams. For the necessary modernisation of the training complex, the involved parties reached an agreement after long and intensive discussions that permits an expansion of the existing site. To this end, additional land will be made available by the City of Hamburg for the construction of a total of seven pitches and a service building by the end of 2026.
Oke Göttlich, club president: “We’re delighted to have made the breakthrough after many years with all the involved parties around the table. Many thanks to Jochen Winand and Kolja Dickmann for driving the project forward on our behalf. Thanks also to the City of Hamburg and the Department of the Interior and Sport for all their efforts on our behalf and all the other parties involved in helping us to find a way to plan and build a modern youth academy within Hamburg on our existing training complex. It’s a huge, forward-looking step for the club and we’re very happy to be able to take it. We are creating something that will be important for the club for decades to come.“
Andreas Bornemann, director of sport: “Good working conditions are a central component of our professional football operations, but we also want to show a clear perspective for our youth section, to which we are fully committed. This step goes some way to creating the prerequisites for this. In future we will have a common home that will permit an intensive exchange between the various youth teams right up to the senior squad. We’re absolutely delighted because it makes our youth academy a significantly more attractive proposition.“
Photos: FC St. Pauli
