In the image of the Football City of Las Rozas, headquarters of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on the outskirts of Madrid, the Catalan territorial has begun to design its future Casa del Futbol Català; a unique complex for the sports and training practice of football, futsal and beach soccer, which will be built in the north of Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona).
The intention of the managers of the Catalan Federation (FCF) is that its new headquarters, with training fields, sports hall, residence for athletes, medical services and the Mutualitat de soccer players, will be in operation by 2027-28, and can be training sub-headquarters for the 2030 World Cup, since Barcelona would have two venues for matches, the new Camp Nou and the Cornellà-El Prat Stage Front.
The historic and ancient headquarters on Calle Sicília in Barcelona and the Mutualitat in Plaza Urquinaona are crying out for relief. If we add to this the lack of natural grass facilities for football in the Barcelona area, the idea of ??the FCF took shape: to create a sports city that would serve Catalan football, with two football-11 pitches (one with stands for 1,500 spectators) and one for 7-a-side football that meets FIFA standards, with changing rooms, a gym and medical services, a pavilion for futsal and beach soccer, a 5,000 m2 headquarters for offices, rooms and an auditorium for 300 people, a residence with 52 rooms, and the mutuality of 2,000 m2 with medical spaces for soccer players…
All of this is included in the explanatory memorandum that the FCF has prepared to present to the RFEF and the Sant Feliu de Llobregat City Council, owner of the 68,000 m2 land in the Mas Lluí area, bordering the Collserola natural park.
“Now a long administrative process begins, which involves the requalification of the land (from equipment to sports equipment), the tender, competition and drafting of the project, preparation of the budget… Until the first stone, about two years,” he calculates. Oriol Camacho, general secretary of the Federation, who will choose to operate the complex.
The Casa del Futbol Català will adjust to the volume of activity – training sessions, matches and tournaments – of the Catalan teams, as well as being available for international teams and professional teams. In other words, it does not aspire to be a replica of Valdebebas or the neighboring Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper de Sant Joan Despí, just a kilometer and a half away, crossing the N-340.
“The idea is that beyond the 2030 World Cup – to which the joint candidacy of Spain, Portugal and Morocco aspires –, the complex can host training sessions for teams and national teams, which today go to Valencia and the south because there are no facilities here. with natural grass”, explains Camacho. “In addition, of course, to the use it will have for the Catalan teams and the municipality itself.”
And how much will the party cost, and who will pay for it? “It will not drop below 20-25 million euros, we do not know in detail until the project is drafted,” says the FCF, which hopes to finance its Casa del Futbol with state resources (via CSD and RFEF), regional (Generalitat, Diputació) and international (UEFA and FIFA), taking advantage of the manna of the World Cup.
