The?artistic rendering of?the national youth football training center [Photo/Qingdao Today]

Thanks to the “football town” project under construction, local residents will be able to enjoy football matches at their doorsteps in the coming year, said Song Bin, deputy head of Puji town, Jiaozhou city.

The youth football training center at the town is set to be the largest football training base in Shandong province, when completed by the end of year, to fill the gap in comprehensive football training facility in the province.

The Chinese Football Association has appointed five cities to trial football development, including construction of national youth football training centers, according to Song.

The Qingdao center was decided to be located in Puji in December 2015. It will house 49 football fields for hosting 11-player matches and as training sites for five-player, seven-player and 11-player games.

It will host national football games and offer spaces for daily training with a designed capacity of 20 plus matches and service 1,300 players per day.