FC United of Manchester FC United of Manchester FC United of Manchester Badge FC United of Manchester Pitch In

Sextuplet on for Manchester College

Manchester College could win an incredible haul of six football trophies this year and Sports Academy Co-ordinator, Craig Thomas believes it’s partly due to the institution establishing successful links with FC United.

The college’s football teams, which play in FC United strips, already have two trophies in the bag and have four more final appearances in the next week and a half. The ladies under-19s team won the Manchester Cup last week with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Cheadle and Marple College at Ashton United’s Hurst Cross ground. This added to the British Colleges League title that they won earlier in the season.

The team, which is coached by Blackburn Rovers and England Ladies International Lynda Sheperd, are hoping to complete their own treble later this week when they take on Filton College from Bristol in the English Schools Cup Final at Norwich City’s Carrow Road later this week.

Not to be outdone, the men’s under-19s team are also hoping to claim three trophies. They have two British College finals - the 11-a-side in Doncaster on Wednesday 6th May and the Futsal final, where they are representing the north-west, a week later. In between those dates, they have the Manchester Cup Final against Xaverian College on 11th May.

Craig is confident that the teams can bring more footballing glory to Manchester. He said: "We’ve done really well this season. We’ve got some very talented players at the college. We were already winning trophies but the link up with FC United has attracted new players and it’s been a big pull for us which is a great added bonus."??

What’s even more remarkable is that the women’s under-19 team have achieved their success with a squad of just 12 players. The majority of these players do not have a league club to play for at weekends and Craig hopes FC United may be able to address this situation.

He said: "There have been talks about FC United taking the under-19s team next season and establishing their first ever women’s team. It would be really good for the girls and I’m sure they would be very successful for FC."??

The football academy is going from strength to strength and the next academic year will see the establishment of a boys’ team on the college’s Northenden campus. FC United is set to continue its promising work with the college where manager Karl Marginson is still enjoying his role as head coach.

Open trials for the entire academy are taking place at Nicholls Centre of Excellence in Ardwick on Monday 18th May for women and Tuesday 19th May for men. Anyone who is interested in trying out should contact the college directly on 0161 920 4811.



First Posted ~ 02:23 Wed 6 May 2009
News ID ~ 2237
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021