AP file photo
MANILA, Philippines—First came the Blaugrana of Barcelona, then the Blues of Chelsea borough, now it’s the Red Devils of Manchester.
Manchester United, arguably the world’s most famous football club, will conduct a football camp together with the United Football League and Clear for the development at the grassroots level of football in the Philippines.
In a press conference Monday afternoon at the Makati Shangri-La hotel, Jamie Reigle, managing director of Manchester United Asia Pacific; and Randy Roxas, president of the United Football League, together with officials from Unilever Philippines, announced that the coaches from the Manchester United Soccer School would conduct a three-day football camp on April 25-27.
“We have seen a huge level of passion and interest for football here in the Philippines,” said Reigle, whose club signed a multiyear partnership with the UFL and Clear. “We hope to teach young players the tactics, the preparations that players of Manchester United do before matches, and to bring a lot of fun.”
Dorothy Dee-Ching, Unilever marketing director for healthcare, said that coaches from the Manchester United Soccer School, which honed the likes of two-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, former English captain David Beckham and United legend Ryan Giggs, would supervise the camp.
Andrew Capuyoc, Clear brand manager, added that the coaches are sanctioned by the United European Football Associations (UEFA), the governing body of European professional football.
For Roxas, the partnership between Manchester United, UFL and Clear was “inevitable.”
“The mission of the UFL is to develop a strong domestic club structure in the Philippines,” Roxas said.
The UFL president added that coaches from the UFL would supervise the initial tryouts to be conducted on March 22 in Cebu, March 23 in Iloilo, March 29 in Davao and March 30 in Metro Manila, and get a chance to scout future UFL talents.
From the initial tryouts, only 32 will be selected from each and the top 100 will participate in the Manchester United camp.
Of the 100 chosen, six players would be chosen to participate in the third installment of the Dream Match.