By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 17 – Legia Warsaw, who were controversially dumped from the Champions League to the Europa League after fielding an ineligible player against Celtic in the qualifying rounds, are pushing forward an expansion programme with plans for a new training ground, despite missing out on the big cash win that comes with Europe’s top club competition.
Legia is looking to build a new training base in Sulejowek, costing PLN 40 million (€10 million). The facility will add seven new football pitches to its training facility and boost the operations of its youth academy.
Sulejowek is about 21km from Poland’s capital city Warsaw. Under the plan, construction work will begin next year. The first phase will be completed by 2016, for Legia’s 100th anniversary, and the second by the end of 2018, according to the club.
The design for the new facilities was prepared by Spanish architectural firm Estudio Lamela, which previously worked on the design of rival Polish football club Cracovia Krakow.
The planned investment is yet to be approved by the municipal authorities of Sulejowek. However, local daily Fakt reported that a decision is expected to be taken in the second half of September.
“For several years, we have been aiming to train young footballers as efficiently as possible, but without the appropriate infrastructure this is not possible,” said Dariusz Mioduski, the majority shareholder of Legia Warsaw.
The club’s Pepsi Arena has a capacity of 31,103 spectators. Legia are the current Polish league champions.
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