The LaLiga Academy Malaysia will welcome players from the ages of eight to 18 to train under the guidelines of the LaLiga Methodology, while also completing their education, including IGCSEs and A-Levels at Epsom.

The Academy will be overseen by a Technical Director from LaLiga to ensure the Spanish league’s training concepts are utilised to aid the development of youth football players. It will also be the latest addition to Epsom’s Sports Academies, combining high performance sports training and education. 

Mark Lankester, Chief Executive of the EDUC8 group, said: “Our Sports Academies, in partnership with leaders across the various sports, provide an ecosystem for students to explore their sporting passion at a high level. 

“We launched our partnership with Patrick Mouratoglou, the Mouratoglou Tennis Programme in 2022, and have recently launched the ECM Golf Academy to help students realise their sporting dreams. We are now thrilled to be launching the LaLiga Academy Malaysia to give young aspiring footballers the opportunity to polish their skills with the renowned LaLiga methodology.”

Matthew Brown, Headmaster at Epsom, which is based on the UK’s Epsom College in Surrey, said: “We believe in cultivating the love of learning from an early age and creating a safe, supportive and encouraging environment for our students to pursue their interests, whatever they may be. We are thrilled that this partnership will give our students the opportunity to throw themselves headfirst into ‘the beautiful game’ of football – to improve their skills and to play the game that they love – without sacrificing their academic pursuits.”

The LaLiga Academy Malaysia is the latest project from LaLiga Grassroots, which has been designed to promote football at grassroots level. The initiative has so far developed more than 640 projects led by 900 coaches across 50 countries.

Adrián Prol, LaLiga’s delegate in Malaysia, added: “Football is growing exponentially in Southeast Asia and LaLiga is excited to make its mark in Malaysia. It’s uncommon to find a partner that has not only one of the most expansive campuses in Asia, but a deep ongoing agenda of offering ambitious sports offerings to its students.

“To date, LaLiga grassroots has trained more than 200,000 players and 25,000 local coaches around the world but we also recognise the importance of academics. We are very proud of this partnership as it brings two industry leaders in sports and education together for the benefit of youth development.”

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