Former GB no.1 Frankie Langan is expanding his padel club empire all the way to Indonesia with an ambitious project on the idyllic island of Lombok.
Lombok, which boasts stunning beaches and lush rainforests, is thriving as an alternative to Bali (its neighbouring island to the west) with significantly lower entry costs and a surge in overspill tourism.
Langan was invited by Singapore-based businessman Adam Murray to be co-founder and Padel Manager at Laga Padel, a new six-court padel, wellness, recovery and restaurant experience situated on 12,000m² of prime beachfront land in Kuta Town on Lombok’s south coast.
Langan first met Murray at the TTB Sport Singapore Padel Invitational celebrity pro-am tournament, a prelude event to the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, where Frankie was a guest and padel coach of James Vowles, Team Principal of Williams Racing.
“Adam owns prime land in Kuta and wanted to build a padel club,” Frankie told The Padel Paper. “He’d seen what I’ve done in the UK and wanted me to come on the journey with him. It’s such an exciting project and an opportunity like this doesn’t come around often.”
Behind him, the Brit has a strong team including co-founder Murray, Liberty Asquith, Design and Marketing Manager; Kendall Armstrong, Project Governance Coordinator; William McIntyre, co-founder and Development Director; Dr Carl Thong, Co-founder and Indonesian partner, and Christina Garcia, Head of Communications on the project. “We’ve got such a strong team and none of this would be possible without their expertise. Every team member is vital and brings something unique to the table,” Frankie said.
Plans for Laga Padel (‘laga’ translates as ‘match’ in the local language) began as a padel and restaurant, but have now expanded into villas, a hotel, beach club, wellness facilities and state-of-the-art gym. “It’s like a whole resort,” Langan explains.
The renders look absolutely spectacular and foundations are going down in August with an estimated opening date in early 2027.
The initial five courts will include an impressive centre court with domed roof and spectator seating. A sixth ‘Instagram-friendly’ outdoor court is due to be added later.
“I’ll be there four months of the year for the first four years to get the business off the ground,” states Langan, who will remain on the GB junior coaching team and continue his social media content creation side hustle.
“It’s a big commitment but it’s an amazing opportunity. We’ll employ a head coach and I’ll be in charge of day-to-day operational stuff, being a delegator, coming up with ideas and using my contacts book. Winter is a bit depressing here [in the UK], so it doesn’t sound too bad, does it?!”
Langan has already signed a partnership deal with Macron which will incorporate the Macron Cup padel tournament, planned to coincide with the Lombok MotoGP motorcycle race. He says a partnership with Ducati is also in the pipeline.
Langan’s first padel club project since retiring as a professional player was at Bishop’s Stortford FC in his native Essex. Two additional courts to its original four will be built before the end of the summer.
Bishop’s Stortford Padel Club has become a popular local hotspot known for its Ibiza-style vibes with regular DJ spots and social events.
The planning application for a second UK club, at Wakering FC in Southend, are about to be submitted to local councillors.
Frankie has also become something of a media personality with his YouTube channel featuring banter-filled padel coaching sessions with some famous guests including Traitors and England rugby star Joe Marler, ex-Premier League players John Terry, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Marlon Harewood and boxer Anthony Watson.
Langan continues his coaching role with GB’s elite juniors too, recently leading the boys’ team at the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup in Porto alongside Libby Fletcher.
Although the team narrowly missed out on reaching the Final 8 stage due to an agonisingly narrow defeat to Denmark, Langan reflected: “They will be very good players in the next few years.
“They’re excelling in the FIP Promises events, but going into senior padel is a completely different game. It goes back to how much you want it, and how much time and sacrifice you’re willing to put in to achieve your goals.”
The same applies to Langan himself in this early phase of his post-playing career.
“If you want to achieve anything in life, sacrifices have to be made,” he states. “I want to be a big padel operator and successful businessman, so there’s things I’m going to have to sacrifice.
“I aspire to be like David Lloyd, an ex-player turned businessman and entrepreneur. Or maybe a Gary Lineker, so I can incorporate punditry, media and business. I just really want to excel and make something of myself.”
