Adidas and Stormzy link up again to launch South London football centre

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
May 2, 2024

Add one major music star to a giant sports brand and you have a meaningful collaboration that’s sure to grab consumer attention.

On Thursday, Adidas and Stormzy announced the opening of #MerkyFC HQ, a new football centre in Croydon, south London.

Chosen to give the local community “much-needed facilities”, the new hub combines football pitches, a state-of-the-art recording studio, a sports gaming hub and multipurpose rooms.

Built on the existing Selhurst Sports Arena site, #MerkyFC HQ will be managed by Communities First Foundation, which aims to “empower communities across London through access to sport, training and employment support”.
 
And Adidas's investment will enable the charity to operate the multimedia rooms, changing spaces and a newly refurbished 3G pitch, “enhancing facilities that were previously available to residents, and local groups”.

Central to the scheme “is the desire to increase opportunities for young people to connect in real life and explore their interests. Each bespoke space is engineered to encourage learning, playing and socialising”.

The venue will continue to host year-round events and educational activities, on and off pitch, “providing vital access to training and development opportunities for young people in the local community and beyond”.

The addition of the music studio “will allow for a bolstered offering to aspiring local artists to record as well as a space for all other multimedia uses”, including Podcasts and gaming events.

The sports gaming hub is a collaboration between #MerkyFC, adidas and EA Sports, bringing football off pitch, with leading facilities and streaming capabilities.

The hub features a number of the latest consoles, so young people can test their skills on the latest EA Sports titles.

Meanwhile, EA Sports will also buy back 500 hours of play time at the centre, split evenly between the pitch at the space and the sports gaming hub. These hours will be distributed to local organisations and projects in collaboration with Communities First, “to provide open, safe and fun areas of play”.

The launch of #MerkyFC HQ becomes the second pillar of the collaboration between Adidas and Stormzy, following on from the launch of the #MerkyFC Careers programme, built to address racial equity in the football industry off-pitch.

Stormzy said: “I’m gassed that we can finally open the doors to #Merky FC HQ. Working with Adidas, I’ve wanted to do this for a long, long time and now there’s a community space that everyone in the area will be able to use and benefit from. When I was growing up there was nothing like this around for young people, so it means a lot that we now have a facility like this in Croydon. Proper homegrown!”

Steve Marks, Senior Director Brand Communications, Adidas added: “We’re proud to launch…the next chapter in [our] ongoing partnership with Stormzy. Supporting the development of spaces for the local community to connect, play and collaborate is a vital part of our ongoing drive to cultivate opportunities for young people.

“The centre is a space for everyone including those who enjoy taking part in football, but also for the discovery of other creative passions such as music and esports.”