Banants Training Centre
 | |
| Former names | Malatia Football School |
|---|---|
| Location |
Yerevan Armenia |
| Coordinates | 40°10′20″N 44°27′02″E / 40.17222°N 44.45056°ECoordinates: 40°10′20″N 44°27′02″E / 40.17222°N 44.45056°E |
| Owner | FC Banants |
| Type | Football training facility |
| Opened | 23 May 2003[1] |
| Tenants | |
|
FC Banants (training) Banants-2 (official matches) | |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Banants Training Centre, is the training ground and academy base of the Armenian football club FC Banants. It houses the club's main stadium, 3 additional full-size training pitches, mini football pitches as well as an indoor facility. The current technical director of the academy is the former Russian footballer Ilshat Faizulin.
History
Banants Training Centre was opened in 2004 on the grounds of the former Eduard Grigoryan Football School in the Malatia-Sebastia District of the capital Yerevan.[2] Occupying an area of 65,000 m², the centre is used for youth and senior teams trainings.
On 16 October 2007, then-presidents of FIFA and UEFA; Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, visited the Banants Training Centre during their 2-day official visit to Armenia.[3]
On 7 October 2015, Fabio Capello visited the training centre. Admired by the club facilities, Capello told the journalists that "Banants has a great base for training and work".[4][5]
In November 2016, the centre hosted the training sessions of the Swiss and the Italian under-19 teams, participating in the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, group 7. Impressed by the centre, the Swiss team manager Gérard Castella told the journalists that the "conditions here are simply fantastic".
On 15 December 2017, a new artificial pitch was installed in the centre with the financial assistance of the Football Federation of Armenia.[6]
As of April 2017, the academy runs 6 youth teams with ages ranging between 13 and 17.[7] The directing coach of the academy is Artashes Adamyan.
The centre frequently hosts local and foreign football clubs for periodic training camps and friendly matches.
Facilities
With a total area of 65,000 m², Banants Training Centre is the largest football academy in Armenia owned by a club and the 2nd largest football training base in Yerevan following the Yerevan Football Academy. It is home to a large number of training facilities including:
- Banants Stadium with a capacity of 4,860 seats, is the home stadium of FC Banants.
- 2 full-size artificial pitches, with the first pitch having a seating capacity of 600 seats, used by Banants-2; the reserve team of the club. The first artificial turf was installed in 2007 with the assistance of the Football Federation of Armenia and the FIFA Goal Programme.
- 1 full-size natural grass pitch.
- 2 natural grass and 1 artificial turf seven-a-side training pitches.
- 1 artificial turf five-a-side training pitch.
- 1 indoor mini football training hall.
- Service centre with swimming pool and gymnasium. The club headquarters are located at the 2nd floor of the building.