Above Vladimir Weiss helps Vincent Kompany and Patrick Vieira to make Christmas cards at Carrington. Vladimir, clearly as graduate of the Take Hart (not Joe) academy as well as the MCFC Academy - shows what can be achieved with imagination, sticky-back plastic and glitter.
Steve Ireland - how didn’t this lad set the world on fire with the talent he has? Here, the gifted Ireland midfielder spends time with local youngsters promoting ‘Kick Racism out of Football’ - something Manchester City fans and players have long felt strongly about.
Over at the Blue Zone, City’s in-house educational project, Nedum Onuoha - now the Blues’ longest-serving Academy graduate - casts an eye over the work of some East Manchester children. Actually, he’s showing them a clip of Diego Maradona saying, “I’ll beat five players and roll the ball home some day - maybe away to Chelsea...”
“Yeah, right Nedum...” came the reply. Actually, while he was on loan at Sunderland...
Shaun Wright-Phillips was always a popular choice with staff and youngsters at any CITC events. Wrighty could never resist a shoot ‘em up game, either, and here he takes on James Corden for the title of Intergalactic Warlord in an arcade game of Mars Attacks!
Micah Richards is another popular choice for any charity events the Club are involved with. On this occasion, ‘Keep Manchester Moving’ was the beneficiary and Ricky Hatton ensured Micah kept moving during a five-minute sparring session at his gym.
Wrighty liked nothing more than getting in amongst it on the pitch, and here he was in the middle of a shaving foam and paint battle that, as you can see, he lost!
Finally, a young Micah - make that younger - signs autographs at an open training session. Hope you’ve enjoyed a gentle jog down memory lane! There’s more to come...
