The second showcase event at the IH Manchester academy took place this week, and once again was a huge success with over 45 players involved and 5 of those being looked at further by professional or semi-professional clubs.
The day’s events kicked off with a talk from academy coach and former Manchester City Striker Jon Macken. Following the initial warm up the players were put through their paces by coaches Chris, Jon and Head coach Nigel in a range of drills to help showcase their ability and understanding.
After a short lunch break the players were once again give advice from a former player who knows what clubs are looking for, ex Chelsea star Frank Sinclair. Frank then stayed on for the afternoon to watch the boys in action after he’d been an academy guest coach the week prior.
In attendance were several clubs from all different levels of football in the northwest including Blackpool FC, Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday, Crewe Alexandra, Radcliffe Borough and Stockport Dynamos to name a few.
The whole day was a huge success with 5 players being highlighted by clubs for further watching.
Director Mick Brennan said “What a great day for players. Bringing all the players from both sites together has been fantastic, it adds to the quality of the event and gives the younger players something to aim for going forward seeing the 16+ lads in Manchester. We had a great turn out from the club representatives and scouts with some great feedback. This is only our second event of this type which we are looking to roll out regularly for our academy players and open it out more to local players. The whole day is geared towards giving these players an opportunity to showcase their ability to some influential people in the game. Some may be successful, many won’t be, but they all have that chance and opportunity along with the experience of the day. To have advice from people like Jon Macken and Frank Sinclair is just a massive bonus for the players too and a massive thank you to them both. Both have played at that top level so know what to expect and what it take. You can’t get better advice than that. We’ve had some great comments on the event from the clubs and about the conduct and ability of our academy players too, so well done to them all.”
The next showcase event will be in February in Manchester.
