van Dijk’s 👍🏻 for Liverpool padel plans
Game4Padel is moving towards its goal of opening a padel tennis centre in Liverpool with news that planners have approved its application for three outdoor courts at the city’s cricket club.
The company had wanted to install three covered courts on a disused bowling green at the club but were knocked back by planners last year, with council officials citing concerns about how sympathetic the scheme would be to the character of the area and the court canopies’ impact on the openness of the site.
A new application, shifting the courts from the bowling green to replace three grass tennis courts and removing the canopies but retaining floodlights, was submitted and has now been given the green light by council planners.
We have padel courts at the Liverpool training ground. I’m really pleased there are more coming to the city for everyone to enjoy.
The news delighted Liverpool FC star Virgil van Dijk (left), a Game4padel ambassador. He said: “I first played padel in the Netherlands and really enjoyed it. It’s fast-paced, fun and a good way to relax off the football pitch. We have padel courts at the Liverpool training ground and I’m really pleased there are more coming to the city for everyone to enjoy.”
Other well-known fans of the game include Jurgen Klopp (who installed the padel courts at the Liverpool FC training ground), Andy Murray, David Beckham, Bradley Walsh, Elle MacPherson and Nicole Scherzinger.
The three courts at Liverpool Cricket Club will add to existing facilities at the site, including squash, tennis, Crown Green bowling, rugby and lacrosse.
Mike Harrison, Chair of the Tennis Section at Liverpool Cricket Club said: “Padel is going to be a great addition to our facilities. We have seen how popular the game is becoming all around the UK and we believe the courts will be really busy here where we have a lot of family members. The benefits of padel are that it’s really sociable, great fun and easy to pick up – you don’t need any previous racket experience – so we encourage as many people as possible to come and try it out.”
Game4Padel co-founder and CEO, Michael Gradon added: “In the past year, there has been unprecedented demand for new padel courts around the country – many sports clubs are considering adding it to their sites because it does not require much space and adds appeal for those who might not have considered joining before.”
Padel has been described in media as ‘the fitness trend of the summer’, a ‘sensation in the UK’ and ‘the cool younger sister of tennis’. The game originated in Mexico and quickly swept through South America and then into Europe. Spain is believed to have more than 20,000 padel courts and an estimated six million active players – it is now the country’s second biggest participation sport after football. Padel is played in 91 countries and is the fastest growing sport in many countries. 🎾
