Merseyside councils are serving up padel — whether you want it or not

Dear readers — Padel! The rapidly-growing sport arrived in Liverpool last year, and is now spreading across the city region. But is this a permanent fixture or a fad? In Spain its popularity is second only to football, while in Sweden, the sport’s crash resulted in a half-billion Euro black hole for investors. Both football stars like Steven Gerrard and local councils are backing it, but have they overestimated the demand? And would you pay £55 for an hour’s play? 

But first: your regularly scheduled Post briefing.

Your Post briefing

An update from Monday’s big story: Initial reports stated that Merseyside Police detained 50, and then 80, demonstrators against the proscription of Palestine Action outside the Labour Party conference. The Post can now confirm that 82 were arrested and 79 reported for summons. Police estimate 180 people attended, and that “not everyone present was committing a criminal offence” (given the number of arrests and summons, we calculate the total of those not accused at 19 people, in that case). But an eyewitness, as well as the BBC, report that the total crowd was more like 250. The Post has contacted Merseyside Police for clarification and comment.

Liverpool’s children's services improves: After a recent Ofsted inspection rated the city council’s children’s services department “good”, the government has formally lifted an improvement notice. This news comes three years after the department was rated as “inadequate” and put into special measures. “I want to acknowledge the commitment shown by you, the council’s senior leadership team, partners and practitioners in securing that progress,” said Josh MacAlister MP, minister for children and families, in a letter to the council. This improved Ofsted rating is despite The Post’s findings earlier this year that the city council was paying thousands to homes unregulated by Ofsted (and therefore illegal) to provide accommodation for children. 

NatWest backs university bed spaces: A joint venture between UQ Partnerships and the University of Liverpool has secured a £12.9m development loan from NatWest for a scheme to develop 237 new rooms before the 2028/29 academic year. The development offers a “practical solution that will increase the supply of affordable accommodation while making productive use of existing buildings,” according to a NatWest spokesperson. 

“Can I help you, mate?”

Feeling like I’m trespassing has become something of an occupational hazard, but somehow I didn’t expect it at a social club. 

I trot towards the little coffee kiosk and explain to a stocky man behind the bar that I’ve come to find out about padel, the game threatening to add Liverpool to a burgeoning empire that has already swallowed London and Manchester. Last April, Ignite Padel opened Merseyside’s very first padel court in April right here at Vagabonds on Queens Drive, so it seemed a good place as any to start.

The half-squash, half-tennis hybrid may have only arrived recently, but it’s growing faster than an Andy Murray serve. Over the past twelve months, councils in St Helens, Knowsley and Sefton have begun taking bids from private companies to open their own padel courts — often on land that was formerly earmarked for other uses, whether for basketball in St Helens or tennis in Sefton.

If you’ve ever read about padel, you’ll be familiar with an overused claim about the pastime: that it's “the fastest-growing racquet sport”. But how true is this for our city-region — and does Merseyside really have the appetite for padel that these companies would have us and our councils believe?