At the end of the Spring Term, 28 students embarked on a football tour to England for 10 days. On arrival, the students travelled to Cheadle Hulme School to watch a selection of games, including a first eleven local derby between Cheadle Hulme School and Manchester Grammar School. It was a fantastic opportunity to watch some competitive eleven a side youth football, played at a high standard. Cheadle Hulme School generously lent the use of their excellent facilities to allow students to shake off the jet lag by playing some small sided games later that day.
During the trip, there was the opportunity to see three live matches. The first involved travelling to the home of football, Wembley Stadium, to see England beat Lithuania 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier. The second match was the Women’s Champions League Quarter Final at the Etihad Stadium in which Manchester City won against Fortuna Hjorring 1-0. Finally, there was a visit to Turf Moor for a Premier League encounter between Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur which resulted in a 2-0 defeat for the home side. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere of a packed stadium and seeing some world class players like Dele Ali and Harry Kane in action.
An exciting part of the trip was enjoying the chance to spend time at one of the most advanced training facilities in the world at Manchester City. The footballers enjoyed several sessions with the club’s coaches, where there was a focus on communication, touch, distribution and game management. The sessions were superb fun, offering students the chance to play on incredible playing surfaces. The players soon had a chance to put their training into practice as during the week there were fixtures against Cheadle Hulme School and Terra Nova School. They were entertaining matches and although both the U12’s and U14’s lost to Cheadle Hulme School, the U12’s beat Terra Nova 3-1 whilst the U14’s played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Overall, the football tour was an enjoyable experience for everyone involved, with excellent opportunities to watch and play football in different environments at a competitive level. All the players will have benefitted from the trip, improving their skills, developing their passion for the game, as well as enjoying the chance to soak up some English culture. Many thanks to Mr Thomson for organising this memorable trip and Mr Hancock, Mr Furniss, Mr Moss, Mr Hamon and Mr Zoeller for their support during the week.