Urartu Training Centre
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| Former names | Malatia Football School Banants Training Centre |
|---|---|
| Location | Yerevan Armenia |
| Coordinates | 40°10′20″N 44°27′02″E / 40.17222°N 44.45056°E |
| Owner | Urartu |
| Type | Football training facility |
| Opened | 23 May 2003[1] |
| Tenants | |
| FC Banants (training) Banants-2 (official matches) | |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Urartu Training Centre, is the training ground and academy base of the Armenian football club Urartu. 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 Armenian footballer Rafael Nazaryan.
History
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Urartu Training Centre was officially opened on 23 May 2003 on the grounds of the former Malatia Football School named after Eduard Grigoryan, located in the Malatia-Sebastia District of the capital Yerevan.[2] The opening ceremony was attended by then-presidents of FIFA Sepp Blatter, then-president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, and then-president of the Football Federation of Armenia Ruben Hayrapetyan. The centre was renovated and completed as part of FIFA's Goal development programme. Occupying an area of 65,000 m², the centre is used for youth and senior teams training.
On 16 October 2007, Sepp Blatter along with then-presidents of the UEFA Michel Platini, visited the 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
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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:
- Urartu Stadium with a capacity of 4,860 seats, is the home stadium of Urartu.
- 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.