Before you contact us, please take a look at some Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Can I have a trial with your football team / football academy?
A: Sorry, but we do not offer trials.
Q: Can I apply to join your football team?
A: We are not a football team.
Q: What do you offer then? What are you?
A: We offer the IHM football academy to students (aged from 11 to 18 years) who have either enrolled full-time at one of the two boarding schools (Abbey College Manchester & Ellesmere College, Shropshire) that we work with or . All our student players also study full-time.
NB – we give equal importance to academic performance as we do to football achievement.
Q: What do your players study?
A: They can choose to study for GCSE exams, A levels, International Foundation Year or English language (English language only available to students for who English is not their first language age 16 years +)
Q: Can I just play football / have football training only?
A: No, sorry. All our players must study.
Q: Why do your players also have to study?
A: All our players are working towards university entrance. Whilst we give our players the opportunity to be the best players that they can be, we believe that every player should have a Plan B. It is incredibly difficult to make it as a professional footballer, so we want our student players to keep their options open.
Q: How much does it cost to join the school?
A: It costs GBP £ 38,000.00 to join the boarding schools for a full academic year (from September to July), including full board accommodation and football academy. It costs GBP £ 14,995.00 for 22 weeks of English + football, including homestay accommodation and football academy.
Q: Please can you help me with the fees? Have you got any scholarships? I can’t afford the fees.
A: We are really sorry, but we do not offer scholarships. We cannot help you with the fees.
Q: I am not from the UK, can I still apply?
A: Yes, our boarding schools are international schools. Student players from all around the world are very welcome.
Q: Can you help me get a UK visa?
A: When a player applies and is accepted onto a course, we provide help with their visa application.
Q: Can I sign for a UK club?
A: Players under the age of 18 years cannot sign a professional football contract. A player needs to be exceptionally skilled to be spotted by football scouts. The standard of play in the UK is very high and there is lots of fierce competition, even at semipro and amateur level. It is also very difficult for a non-UK citizen to sign a pro football contract.
Q: What football opportunities are there for your student players?
A: We run scout assessment days, where international scouts observe all our student players and provide a full and honest report on ability and potential. Any players of an exceptional standard who impress them would be referred to a relevant club.
We have links with professional clubs in Portugal, Germany and Spain who are allowed to recruit non-nationals.
Some players are granted soccer scholarships by US colleges and universities and may be able to break into US pro soccer via this route.
Other players gain pro football contracts in a club in their home country after studying and training with us.