Football giants Paris Saint-Germain to open academy in Wales

French footballing giants Paris Saint-Germain are to open the first ever PSG Academy in Wales – with plans for a further four academies in the near future.

Announcing their new venture with the headline: ‘Wales, Football, PSG Academy, in that order’ (a reference to the infamous Wales. Golf. Madrid flag Gareth Bale was pictured with) the French giants say their plans have come about due to the passion for football in Wales due to national team’s performances in successive European Championships.

Open to boys and girls aged 8 to 15, the PSG Academy Caerphilly offers budding footballers an opportunity to learn football and improve their skills in a fun environment. The first training camps will start during the Easter holidays.

The Academy will be based at St Martin’s School in Caerphilly. The players will train every day, just like the Parisian players, and will benefit from the world-renowned training methods of Paris Saint-Germain.

Off the pitch, they will participate in various courses (nutrition, sleep, athlete hygiene, recovery) but also in a range of leisure activities.

Wales becomes the 15th country to host Paris Saint-Germain’s world-class football schools. In the medium term, the club aims to open new academies in four key regions across the country, citing the national team’s recent performances, and Welsh passion for football at an all-time high.

The founder of the Paris Saint-Germain Academy in the UK, Alex Harrap, said: “We are very proud of the significant development of the Academies in England. We have achieved our goal of providing a serious and comprehensive educational programme to hundreds of young players across the country. This opening in Wales is a new venture. We regularly receive requests to offer PSG experiences in countries neighbouring England. Wales is a country that is passionate about football. We are honoured and excited to offer young Welsh people the opportunity to experience PSG’s training methods. After this first step, our goal will be to extend our presence to 4 or 5 other regions of Wales.”

Football culture

Nadia Benmokhtar, international manager of the Paris Saint-Germain Academy, added: “This first camp marks a new stage in our international development: 15 countries now host our programmes. We are particularly proud to see that our Academies are very popular in countries with a strong football culture, such as Wales. The appeal of our brand and our training methods is growing. In our academies, we offer training that combines football and personal development for young people. Our aim is not only to train players, but also to share our technical know-how with local and qualified coaches, who will be the guarantors of the Paris Saint-Germain training methodology. I am confident that we will achieve results that match our ambitions in Wales.”

Paris Saint-Germain Academy has 15 football schools now open in 12 cities, including London, Manchester, Leeds, Brighton, Wolverhampton and Preston. The PSG Academy UK offers a range of programmes, including annual training programmes for the young players of tomorrow, in schools and during holiday camps.

Click here to find out more about the project and register for the first course.