Juan Mata joins the Populous family as Special Advisor

Spanish footballer and World Cup winner Juan Mata has joined hands with sports venue design and architecture practice Populous and will join them as a Special Advisor. Mata will be an advisor for practice of football and training, helping Populous create the perfect football training environments for the upcoming players. Mata will be working with Populous’ training facilities design team and will give technical insights and also as a player to design the training centres. He will be involved in design reviews, strategic discussions with project teams, participation in client workshops, and also work with the Populous team. 

Juan Mata, commented,

“Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to experience some of the best training environments in football. What I’ve learned is that great facilities are about much more than buildings. The best environments help players perform, recover, learn, connect and grow. Every detail influences the daily experience of athletes and staff. Populous understands that. Their approach puts performance and people at the centre of design, and I’m excited to contribute my experiences to help shape the next generation of football training centres.”

Declan Sharkey, Global Director at Populous, added,

“Juan has experienced elite football at every level of the game. He understands first-hand what makes a training environment successful, from innovation across player performance and recovery to culture, wellbeing and development. His perspective will help our teams continue to challenge conventional thinking and ensure our projects reflect the realities of modern football and the needs of players and technical staff. We are delighted to welcome Juan as a Special Advisor and look forward to working together on projects around the world.”