SURF SC BEHIND THE SCENES VISIT TO MANCHESTER CITY ACADEMY
A few months ago, in February, Manchester City FC announced a ground-breaking five-year partnership with San Diego Surf Soccer Club.
The partnership is the first of its kind for a Barclays Premier League club in the United States, and will result in a new scouting pipeline to England from southern California and a signature soccer tournament which will take place this Memorial Day. Another aspect of the agreement is the delivery of coaching programs to Surf SC players, teaching them the same coaching methodology and principles used by City’s first team. In addition, Surf SC coaches will benefit from having the opportunity to visit and train at Manchester City FC’s new HQ, City Football Academy.
Jeremy McDonald, President of Surf SC and Colin Chesters, Director of Coaching of Surf SC just returned from heading up an exclusive trip to visit the Manchester City Football Academy. Described as Best-in-Class, Manchester City’s Youth Academy’s facility is breathtaking and the EPL club’s vision for the future for player development is awe-inspiring.
Related Read: MANCHESTER CITY AMERICAS CUP CHAMPIONS
A global centre of excellence, City Football Academy coaches and management welcomed those from Southern California based Surf SC with open arms.
San Diego Surf SC visits Manchester City Football Academy in Manchester, England.
Surf SC’s Colin Chesters is an Englishman who played professional soccer for 4 years for Derby County FC in the English Premier League and 3 years with Crewe, captured his experience at Manchester City and what he believes this partnership will do for his youth soccer players in Southern California:
I have been fortunate enough in recent years to gauge our youth program with the best clubs in the world, the “Super Clubs” if you will. In the spring of 2013, I visited the Ajax Academy where the training facility and the stadium for first-team games showed an impressive attention to every detail and where the professionalism was mind blowing.
Then In the spring of 2014, I visited the Barcelona Youth Academy where I was welcomed with the same red carpet treatment that I experienced at Ajax and again it was mind blowing. Both clubs are viewed to have the best youth academies in the world. Five-star academy’s and being referred to as the “world’s best”.
Then just a few weeks ago, I was able to visit Manchester City to finalize our new partnership. Whilst dotting the “I’s” and crossing the “T’s” it was obvious to me there is now a 6-Star academy program in world soccer at Manchester City. The new 300 million dollar facility has raised the bar for soccer academies world-wide. They took a close look at the world’s top clubs, academies and Fortune 500 companies such as; Real Madrid, Barcelona, Ajax, Arsenal, Chelsea, Google, Apple and others and then trumped them all with a training center that is connected by a bridge to the Etihad Stadium.
The trip’s itinerary on Thursday consisted of watching the Manchester City U21 reserve team play v Celtic. We received executive treatment, sat in the luxurious padded seats, had a cup of tea at half time in the player’s lounge whilst rubbing shoulders with the likes of Neill Lennon, ex Celtic boss, and Brian Kidd, Manchester City legend and assistant coach.
On Friday, we toured the amazing facility, listened to presentations on what the facility offered and on the philosophy of their academy program, and spoke about Manchester City’s upcoming visit to San Diego. We were able to meet with Mark Allen, the Youth Academy Director to discuss future player and coaching exchange programs.
We also met with Mark in a session about how the Manchester City Way is focused on player development while combing outreach in the community and other programs. During the facility tour, we learned that all ages have their own manicured pitch to play and train on — all the exact same size as the first team pitch. Each youth soccer team has its own coach, assistant coaches, full medical and sports science staff and video analysis. We picked their brains, all the while trying to absorb what we were seeing in this state-of-the-art facility. To wrap up the day, we got to watch the U6 – U8 players that come for Friday night sessions train at the indoor facility. The future of Manchester City looks very bright based on everything we saw!
On Saturday, with nothing on the agenda, we decided to explore the English Countryside and take the train to Huddersfield who were playing my old team Derby County in the Championship league. We were able to witness a 4-4 tie in a beautiful venue with passionate fans singing and cheering and an energy level that was contagious. For those in the group who had never been to an English soccer game before, they were beyond enchanted with the experience and it left them wanting to see more. After the game, we went to a local pub to watch the Arsenal vs. Reading FA Cup semi-final and then we caught the train back to Manchester to wrap up a long and memorable day.
On Sunday, we went to the Manchester City vs West Ham BPL game where we were escorted in to the Chairman’s Box for pre-game, half-time and post-game food and festivities. We watched the game from just a few rows above the player’s tunnel, in heated seats to take the chill off the chilly English day. There was a strictly enforced dress code in the Chairman’s Box so one can only imagine the anxiety I felt about having to meet those standards based on what I usually wear. So there I was, wearing dress pants and a collared shirt for the first time in a long while. (At the time of publishing, no picture is available.) The game didn’t disappoint and neither did our surroundings. Within 5 seats of me in any direction there were a few older Manchester City players, Everton Head Coach Roberto Martinez, Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira (who coaches the U21 reserve team for MCFC), England AC Ray Lewington and yes, I even ran in to my old boss and Manchester United legend Tommy Docherty. We caught up after the game which is a moment I will treasure forever.
Manchester City won 2-0. We watched Sergio Aguero score his 101st goal for Manchester City. It was a day, and an experience, that I’ll never forget. Our last stop was the Manchester City vs. Arsenal woman’s game, which pitched the two best women’s teams in England against one another. Imagine my surprise when I saw Stanford alum Chioma Obogagu playing for Arsenal. It was great to see players from California playing in a highly competitive market in England. For those of you that follow college soccer, this game was of the same caliber as a Stanford vs. UCLA game.
Jeremy McDonald – President of Surf Soccer Club celebrate the groundbreaking partnership
This was the trip of a lifetime for me. Thank you to Jeremy McDonald as well as Surf Cup Sports for allowing me and our Boys DA Director Mike Nicholson the opportunity to attend. We both had a great time and the players at Surf will benefit from what we learned, the partnership that has been established, and the special events that are yet to come. –Colin
