Michele Kang says London City women-only training ground will rival EPL
Billionaire London City Lionesses owner Michele Kang says the club’s new women-first training centre will be better than the facilities used by most men’s teams in the Premier League. The 28-acre Kent campus is expected to open within a year — and is being designed for female players rather than adapting a model built for men.
The club claims that Cobdown Park in Ditton is the world’s largest training centre for women and girls. After planning approval, the site will host a new performance building, academy facilities, a 3G pitch, and recovery and wellbeing spaces.
Renovation plans include childcare facilities to prevent parenthood from affecting an elite football career. The club expects more than 50 permanent jobs and £1 million ($1.34 million) in local economic activity from the finished site.
Kang isn’t just calling it the best women’s training ground. An architect involved in the project told BBC Sport she expects London City’s training centre to be better than that of most Premier League clubs.
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A training ground built for women
Kang’s argument is that women’s football has spent too long inheriting systems designed around male players.
«We have to take care of our female players better so that they can train, perform and thrive as female athletes, not small men,» she told the BBC.
She contrasted elite facilities routinely available to boys with female players having to worry about changing in public parks or using broken equipment.
In 2024, she committed $50 mln (£37.3 mln at current exchange rates) to female health and performance research through her Kynisca project.
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London City are buying stars
The training ground is part of a much bigger experiment at London City.
Outside the WSL, Kang bought the independent women’s club in December 2023. London City became the first independent women’s club in England’s top division after winning promotion.
London City signed two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas after her 14-year Barcelona career this summer, indicating Kang’s commitment to the project. Putellas signed a three-year contract with BBC Sport, earning less than £1 million ($1.34 million) before bonuses.
Forbes currently estimates Kang’s wealth at around $1.1 billion (£821 million), built largely through healthcare technology company Cognosante, which she founded before selling it to Accenture in 2024.
