Former Premier League footballer Fabio Borini has launched Padel 16, a brand that improves existing facilities at sports clubs, starting with Worsley Sports Club in Salford.
Borini will partner with businessman Anthony Bingham as Padel 16 rejuvenate the site with the introduction of padel, as well as investing revenue back into Worsley’s set-up. Last month saw the opening of four outdoor padel courts, all fitted with panoramic glass.
Speaking to The Padel Paper, the former Liverpool and Sunderland striker spoke about the joy of seeing a long-term vision finally come to life.
“The idea behind it came a long time before what it is today,”, said Borini, who now plays for Sampdoria in Italy’s Serie B. “It originally came along while I was playing in Turkey. I started the idea on my own, building a business plan to create an indoor padel centre originally, with the potential to go outdoors.
“I then met Anthony through a mutual friend in the summer of 2023, the day before I left to go on pre-season. We had to wait as I literally left for training the next day, but when we met, I pitched him my idea and I was passionate enough to convince him that we can work together.
“The 16 in Padel 16 comes from my daughter’s date of birth – I wear the number 16 on my football jersey – so I wanted something personal to me, but still different. I didn’t want just a normal padel centre or recreational club. I wanted to build something that meant more and something that we can reproduce in the future.”
After settling on an idea, the pair got to work on bringing their vision to life, ensuring that a sense of community and togetherness was at the heart of everything they do.
“I have seen padel building in Italy, there are courts everywhere now, and you can see the early stages of it growing in England. In relation to other sports, people would play padel with nothing happening before or after the game, no socialising and no drinking.
“When Anthony took me to Worsley Sports Club to view it, we could see the potential of building that and giving people more reason to spend time at the club. We wanted the club to be a destination rather than people coming in and out.
“We want the place to become established within the community and extend the life of the club, because there are a lot of traditional clubs that are becoming run down. They need something new, some renovation, and that is our view with Worsley Sports Club. We don’t want to just set up a business, pay rent and have nothing to do with the people, we want to stick around and create a connection with the people there.”
Bingham has established backgrounds in both the sporting and business worlds. As well as representing Jamaica in rugby sevens, Bingham also played semi-professional football and American football. Nowadays, his company operates multiple gyms in Manchester, has an ice bath company and a sports bag brand, although recent focus has been on Padel 16’s launch.
Bingham said: “Feedback has been really positive. We are getting a lot of returning customers already, and people are feeling comfortable enough to text us with suggestions as to what we could do. Me and Fabio have kept our numbers on Playtomic in order to get that feedback.”
Worsley has a ‘Pizza, Padel and Pitchers’ evening in partnership with the gym next door. Year 10 pupils from Bridgewater School, a nearby private school, are using the padel courts with plans to expand to Years 9, 10 and 11 from next year. Bridgewater staff have even arranged matches between themselves too.
“We are hopeful that we can get more schools involved, as well as youth programmes that work with young people who are troubled or have disabilities,” added Bingham.
“We are targeting a second site this year. The planning around it will take time, but while that is happening, we can continue to build our base at Worsley. We are keeping an eye on that next site, but we are very much still focused on getting Worsley to the level we want it to be.”
