Football NSW, is set to spend $20 million on a new headquarters and revamped sports ground in western Sydney after gaining approval from Blacktown Council for the project, which could see national-level teams using the venue as a training base for the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in 2015.
The redevelopment of Football NSW’s 11ha Valentine Sports Park at Blacktown will see construction of a new three-level administrative headquarters, upgrade of five playing surfaces and the addition of spectator facilities for Football NSW.
HBO+EMTB won the contract after designing the NRL building at Sydney’s Moore Park, managing director Kevin Fitzgerald said.
HBO+EMTB and project manager Aver designed and project-managed Rugby League Central, the code’s new home at Moore Park, which was completed earlier this year.
Football NSW chief executive Eddie Moore said two fields at the Blacktown site would be converted to international standard synthetic playing surfaces.The centrepiece of the redevelopment is the strikingnew three-level multi-purpose building, which will be the new home of Football NSW, including twin
grandstands facing playing fields on the east and west side of the building.
“Approximately 50 per cent of this space will be devoted to accommodation for Football NSW’s staff and the balance for training and tribunal uses associated with the running of the sport from junior to elite level,” Mr Moore said in a statement.
Under the plans, an existing gym will be extended to create an extra 365sq m and will include an international standard Futsal (indoor soccer) stadium with tiered seating for 400 spectators at Valentine Sports Park, which has been in use since the late 1960s.
The NSW government and the federal government have also contributed to the project.
NSW Minister for Sport and Recreation Graham Annesley, who has been involved with the project from an early stage, said the improvements will allow national-level teams to use the venue as a training base. It could be a training site or base camp for teams in the AFC Asian Cup in 2015.
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