Greetings from Singapore, I’m Mark Booth and I’ll be reporting from Southeast Asia for the next fortnight as Manchester City under-15s compete in the 24th annual Canon Lion City Cup.
The Canon Lion City Cup is seen as one of football’s most prestigious youth football competitions and this year Ajax, Porto, Vasco da Gama and two age-groups of the Singapore national team will face Manchester City for the title that Flamengo took back to Brazil last year.
Lee Jones, City TV cameraman and I flew into Changi Airport earlier this afternoon along with the Ajax team and were met by the competition organisers and taken to our accommodation for the next two weeks, around half an hour’s drive from the Jalan Besar stadium where the tournament will take place.
I admit that Lee and I exchanged a grimace when we realised that we were to be seated on the plane next to 15 15-year old footballers but I’m happy to report that both of us managed to get plenty of sleep thanks to the exemplary behaviour of City’s Dutch counterparts. They must have got enough sleep on the flight as they were all around the pool as soon as they arrived at the accommodation…
After a quick shower we felt human again and headed back to Changi Airport to meet the team off the plane and grabbed Scott Sellars for a quick chat where he highlighted the importance of the trip to the development of this crop of players.
Scott Sellars will be looking after the side for the duration of the trip and brings his wealth of experience to the table, having played at the highest level and having been a part of the academy set up since 2009.
Tomorrow is registration day where all the players will be required to take along their kit and check in with the tournament organisers. The team will then have their first training session at the stadium on Saturday ahead of the tournament’s first match against Vasco da Gama on Monday.
As part of my new role as Assistant Content Producer with the Manchester City content team, I’ll be providing coverage from across the academy age-groups over the next season, providing daily updates on the work being undertaken at Platt Lane under the watchful eye of Academy Manager Mark Allen.
I’ll be ensuring that we have our Academy section of the site is something everyone associated with the club can be proud of, with news, features and video content as well as pre-match previews and match reports – starting with this tournament.
Manchester City under-15s Lion City Cup group fixtures.
v Vasco da Gama (Monday 25 June 2012)
v Singapore u15s (Wednesday 27 June 2012)
