Southern Expansion plans Real Madrid-style high-performance facility

The Southern Expansion bid has revealed grand plans for a Real Madrid-style high-performance facility.

An artist’s impression of the Southern Expansion A-League bid’s proposed $50 million training facility in southern Sydney.

It is the potential game-changer that could give Sydney’s Southern Expansion the edge in the race to win a spot in a revamped A-League competition for the 2019-20 ­season.

With the eight franchises bidding for the two spots submitting their final documentation to Football Federation Australia yesterday, The Weekend Australian has learnt that Southern Expansion will next week unveil plans for a $50 million state-of-the-art, high-performance training and sports science centre in the Sutherland Shire.

Located on several hectares of disused land near Australia’s ­Nuclear Science Technology Organisation campus at Lucas Heights, the complex will provide 10 grass and synthetic playing fields and futsal courts as well as hotel accommodation for visiting players, coaches and corporate guests.

In addition, it will house sports science and medical research ­facilities; offices, administration and conference space; swimming pools, gyms, physio and hydrotherapy recovery areas; a media broadcast hub and a mini-stadium with seating for 500 people.

The high-performance centre is expected to take two years to construct. The plan comes at a time when soccer around the country is in crisis over the lack of playing facilities and amenities for junior and senior football.

As revealed by The Australian this week, clubs in NSW and Victoria have been forced to turn away thousands of youngsters ­because they don’t have enough pitches to cope with demand.

The Sutherland Shire, which the club aims to include along with the St George and Wollongong ­regions, has been hit particularly hard with the local association forced to cap junior registrations for the past half-dozen years ­because of the lack of facilities.

Football Federation Australia is urging financial support from state, federal and local governments, asking them to help contribute to a $100m fighting fund to alleviate the issues.

But if Southern wins its way into the A-League, the proposed complex, which is the centrepiece of the franchise’s final bid submission, will not only benefit its football program but will be a hugely valuable asset to the local community.

Southern is in a head-to-head battle for a place in the A-League with a combined bid from South West Sydney and United for ­Macarthur.

The Weekend Australian understands the bid is now ranked No 1 on FFA’s key metrics for catchment zones and has ­impressed the head body with its financial stability (with cash ­already in the bank) and funds to cover cost of its licence fee, the first five years of operations and a marquee player.

Southern chairman Morris Iemma said the high-performance centre is innovative, will focus on the club’s communities and will be unmatched by any of the other bids.

“A high-performance training centre is a crucial element of any modern, professional sporting club, which is why we are ­delighted to be working in collaboration with ANSTO to develop what will undoubtedly be the finest training facility anywhere in Australia and Southeast Asia,” Iemma said.

“We are building an innovative, professional football club for the future, which will always be ­focused on our communities, where we train and play. Our plans for the centre have significantly strengthened our submission and again demonstrates that no other bid is better positioned or better prepared to take-up A-League and W-League licences than Southern Expansion.”

Southern’s head of football, SBS football analyst and former Socceroo Craig Foster, emphasised the centre, similar to a model used by Spanish giants Real Madrid, “is squarely focused on fan and community engagement”.

“It is unique to Southern ­Expansion and will become a major asset to the game,” Foster said. “Whilst it utilises a visual,­ ­spinal design model similar to Real Madrid, the real difference is that it’s open and accessible to the community, with digital connectivity allowing players, coaches, staff, fans and visitors all to interact on site.

“It’s fundamentally important that everyone has access to our professional male and female players and that’s an underlying principle for Southern, as we work in and with our community.”

According to chief executive Chris Gardiner, the collaboration with ANSTO is a perfect fit for the A-League club-in-waiting.

“It means we can tap in to ANSTO’s cutting-edge research and technology and allow our coaches and support staff to apply this knowledge to their medical and fitness operations and performance analysis,” Gardiner said.