Why is the PSG Campus already a world reference?

An exceptional place where excellence reigns on every floor. This is how to define the new Paris Saint-Germain campus, inaugurated this Thursday. Located in Poissy in Yvelines, this ultra-modern training center – entirely financed by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) to the tune of 350 million euros – today brings together the men’s and women’s teams, training but also the association. A little corner of paradise nestled in the middle of a vast green estate contrasting greatly with the time of the outdated prefabs of Camp des Loges. Immersed in the backstage of this extraordinary site, the FM editorial team was able to appreciate the new cocoon of the reigning French champions, embodying more generally the new era of the club and its ambition to create a space entirely dedicated to performance, training and training of talents.

The crazy figures of a grandiose project

Spread over 59 hectares including 30 hectares of green spaces and 3.5 hectares dedicated to an organic vegetable garden, this dizzying new tool – where between 200 to 250 people work daily – thus offers 150,000 m² of outdoor spaces reserved for training and spread over 3 areas, including 16 football fields. An idyllic setting allowing 180 professional athletes and young people aged 13 to 19, in pre-training or training, to shape their dream. And what about the architecture where everything has finally been thought out and considered to combine well-being and performance, while respecting a logic of “stages to pass” from pre-training to the first team. In a sober and bright atmosphere where the navy blue of the doors combines with the white of the endless corridors, the PSG campus reserves countless places at the cutting edge of technology and with specific functions.

From the huge fitness room – including a hypoxic room, reproducing the conditions encountered at altitude – to the balneotherapy area – where sauna, hammam and different pools are juxtaposed according to needs (recovery, re-athletics) – by the way through the relaxation area, the auditorium, the circular locker room or even the dining room where a nutritionist applies a periodization system to best distribute training load and carbohydrate intake, the new training center of the capital club is full of places, some more surprising than others (rest room for the players’ drivers, another for their hairdresser, a TV studio, a strong room to take refuge in case intrusion…). But that’s not all. If each player has a room in their name, based on high hotel standards (king size bed, shower room, giant screen, balcony), the new house of the Rouge et Bleu also places education at the heart of its project .

Education at the heart of the Campus

Thus, in addition to the buildings dedicated to performance and training, the PSG Campus welcomes 140 students educated on site, from 5th grade to a post-baccalaureate year. With 3 middle school classes, 9 high school classes, one after the baccalaureate, specializing in sports marketing, and 27 teachers, the capital club thus places a point of honor on the educational dimension. “It is a symbol which must guide young people towards the very high level. The Campus must make it possible for young people to understand the expectations of a very high level. We have this academic and socio-educational part because it is very important for us to convey these values ​​in addition to the sporting aspect. The educational city confirms our ambitions. We obtained a 95% success rate in the baccalaureate last year, which is above the national average but we have a real determination to do even better. Players are more and more in the media these days so it’s important to know how to speak well, to master your communication, to have a well-shaped head.confided to us, in this capacity, Yohan Cabaye, sports director of the training and pre-training center.

An assumed ambition blending with the sporting objective and also being part of an approach to environmental responsibility. Thus, by creating the Campus, Paris Saint-Germain also aims to respect one of the major challenges of our era: ecology. “Located in a landscaped and natural setting, the site devotes more than 30 hectares to green spaces including meadows and wooded areas, and 4,000 trees have been planted there to preserve biodiversity. The preservation of this landscape identity was one of the keys to the architectural project of the Wilmotte & Associés agency, one of the choices that counted in the Club’s decision.specifies in this respect the last semi-finalist of the Champions League, which can today boast of perfectly tidy pitches and grass cut to the millimeter by Jonathan Calderwood, the groundsman of PSG.

Staff, infrastructure, pitches… PSG is a fan of its new tool

“I think what is most complicated is explaining to people all the difficulty that surrounds the maintenance of a football field. As for the job, I know it well, I have over 25 years of experience, from Aston Villa to Wolverhampton, via Wembley… It’s not easy, but I’ve been doing this job for a long time now. A lot of things have evolved since then, there is technology that helps us today, I went to university to study Turf Science, and today the understanding of this profession is different. It’s no longer a question of just having a beautiful pitch, but it must also be adapted to the team’s style of play. The rebounds, the speed of the ball, the movements of the players and the ball… Matches are also won and lost on these details”summed up the Briton, fully in line with the quest for excellence advocated by the reigning French champions.

Opened in July 2023 and already considered a benchmark on a global scale, the PSG Campus has finally been perfected over the months. Enough to satisfy its residents. “The Campus is incredible, we remember where we come from, we see the development of the club, the ambition of the club is increasing more and more. It’s an honor. I saw the project when I arrived. When you see it now, it’s something incredible, it shines. We are in the best conditions, that motivates. It’s like a family, we feel at home here. When we come from down there, in Brazil, when we fought, being there is exceptional”recognized Marquinhos in this perspective. A speech similar to that given by Luis Enrique, present at a press conference before challenging Toulouse this Friday at the opening of the 12th day of Ligue 1.

New extensions to be planned…

“It’s a marvel. The facilities, the conditions, the style… Everything is done to make the player comfortable, this is everything a club could want. Everything is perfect so that the team can improve but also to prepare for the season optimally”. President delighted after the grandiose inauguration of this new playground, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi did not hide his pride either: “Our best investment is this, the training center. We want to continue to find the best talent in Paris. We really want to build a team that comes from Paris. Today we have the youngest squad in Europe. This is our vision with this training center, we want to build a team for the future. The coach really believes in our young people”. In heaven, PSG – determined to leave the Parc des Princes – does not intend to stop there.

Indeed, this new setting will continue to expand in the coming months. General director of the club, Victoriano Melero announced this Thursday that a 5,000 m2 building – including a balneotherapy area, bedrooms and changing rooms – would soon see the light of day for the women’s section. At the same time, the Parisian elite will also expand the capacity of the stand at the T5 stadium (from 900 to more than 2,000 seats) which hosts the matches of the women’s team and those of the Youth League of the U19 men’s team. A metamorphosis which should finally be extended by another phase of extension and the construction of a judo and handball room, a polyclinic, a sports club, a hotel, a megastore and a 5,000-seat stadium. Dream bigger, you said…