Manchester City U18 1 Everton U18 0 - U18 Premier League North
Manchester was one of the centres
of textile manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution. The great majority
of cotton spinning took place in the towns of south Lancashire and north
Cheshire. Manchester was for a time the most productive centre of cotton
processing. The Manchester Ship Canal was built between 1888 and 1894, in some
sections by canalisation of the Rivers Irwell and Mersey. This enabled ships to
sail right into the Port of Manchester. Manchester has been a centre of
television broadcasting since the 1950s. A number of studios have been in
operation around the city and have since relocated to Media City in Salford.
Notable residents of Manchester include Frank Sidebottom and the artist L S
Lowry.
Manchester City Football club was
founded in 1880 as St Mark’s (West Gorton), becoming Ardwick Associated in 1887
and subsequently Manchester City in 1894. The club entered the Football League
in 1892, winning the FA Cup in 1904. The club had its first major period of
success in the late 1960s, winning the League, European Cup Winners Cup, FA
Cup and League Cup under the management of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. In
1998 the club was relegated to the third tier of English football for the only
time in its history. Celebrity supporters have included Liam Gallagher and Eddie
Large.
A late afternoon match for Spurs
at Old Trafford facilitated the opportunity to double up with this earlier match.
However, this was far from plain sailing. A couple of early enquiries as to accessibility, were made via social media to a Manchester City associate, but fell on deaf ears. A subsequent enquiry
to the club was met with a polite but firm “we don’t sell tickets for our U18
matches”. In truth, I had pretty much given up on the idea. However, my train
was due to arrive into Manchester just after 10:00 and I decided to take a
stroll in the direction of Eastlands.
The Etihad Campus sits alongside
the impressive looking Academy Stadium. I eventually found an access gate and asked
about the U18 match v Everton. My London accent may have been confused with
scouse and at the same time I may have been mistaken for a parent of a player.
Anyway, I was granted entry and directed to the pitch. This self-contained area, complete with floodlights and a covered seated stand, is impressive and as
expected the playing surface is superb.
Toilet facilities are situated in
a nearby lounge area in the main Campus building. This is also where refreshments
can be purchased. Tea and coffee is available to parents free of charge and I
was grateful for this before the match and again at half time. Properly printed
colour team sheets were also distributed shortly before kick-off.
This was a very closely contested
match played to a high standard. The most impressive aspect for me was how well
drilled and efficient the Everton defence were. Manchester City showed similar
traits in terms of passing, to that of their first team. A solitary goal scored
in the first period was enough to secure the points for the home side. An entertaining
match played in the right spirit.
As the match progressed the assembled crowd appeared to mutate in size. This was contradicted by the lady on the gate telling me that it was supposed to be behind closed doors! For me it is difficult to understand how matches for this age group are restricted and yet matches for the same teams in the FA Youth Cup are attended by paying spectators. Anyway, my stroll back into town and onwards to the other place was interrupted by a brief stop at the Gasworks Brewbar on Jack Rosenthal Street where a couple of pints of Bernstein (4.2%), which is brewed on the premises, went down a treat.
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