Stormzy urges community to ‘Own It’ as dream of setting up hometown football centre becomes reality
By Harrison Galliven, Local Democracy Reporter
Stormzy has opened a new football centre in Croydon, close to where he grew up, and it’s also fitted out with a recording studio and gaming hub.
The Brit Award-winning rapper has taken over the Selhurst Sports Arena to launch Merky FC HQ, in collaboration with Adidas. The recently refurbished arena will allow football to be played on high-quality 3G pitches and act as a community space for Croydon’s creatives.
Announcing the launch on X this morning, Stormzy said: “We all know there’s not enough spaces for young people to hang out, so I teamed up with Adidas to create this football centre near where I grew up in Croydon.
“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.” Stormzy added: “#Merky FC HQ is for you to play, create, and collaborate all under one roof, so sign up come down, and do your own thing, this space is yours. Croydon we are open.”
Alongside its football offering, the facility in Selhurst’s Dagnall Park Road includes a recording studio, EA Sports-sponsored gaming hub, and multipurpose rooms. The state-of-the-art clubhouse replaces the previous pre-fabricated changing rooms that sat alongside the pitches.
Stormzy added: “If you just provide a space, an opportunity or you just light a spark in someone, you don’t know where or what that person goes on to be. To me it’s about sowing a seed, which sounds like a parable, a bit like a fairytale, but I don’t think people understand how powerful it is and how valuable it is.”
Stormzy, real name Michael Omari, was born in Thornton Heath, just minutes away from the new facility. His active community presence under his #Merky brand has also seen him become the co-owner of AFC Croydon Athletic, alongside fellow Croydonian and Crystal Palace alumni Wilfried Zaha.
Pictured top: Stormzy, who was born in Thornton Heath, just minutes from the new facility (Picture: Rene Passet)