How the City Football Academy has helped CITC go from strength to strength | OneFootball

Since its inception in 1986, City in the Community, Manchester City’s Official Foundation has been empowering healthier lives with city youth through football across Greater Manchester.

Reaching out to positively impact the lives of thousands of people, CITC has garnered widespread praise and admiration for its ability to deliver award-winning programmes with health, education and inclusion at the forefront.

And the arrival of the City Football Academy – which officially opened 10 years ago yesterday - helped provide a fitting and spectacular central hub for CITC to plan and implement its crucial and ongoing work.

To date, the outdoor blue pitch housed at the state-of-the art complex along with its iconic large indoor equivalent have seen a total community usage of more than 26,000 hours clocked up over that ten-year period.

During those 10 memorable years the CFA has also played host to many memorable and eye-catching initiatives and moments which have served to help encapsulate the vital work done by CITC staff and mentors.

In September 2023, the community pitch at the CFA was renamed the 'Alex Williams MBE Community Pitch' in the wake of Alex’s retirement from his full-time role with the charity.

A renowned former City goalkeeper, Alex – who was awarded the MBE in 2002 - went on to become became Head of CITC in 1990 and helped shape the charity into one of the largest and most impactful and respected football foundations in the country.

This year also saw CITC’s widely admired Walking Football programme celebrate its own 10th anniversary.

The programme, which was pioneered earlier in 2014, was subsequently bolstered by the opening of CFA where it has been visited by City manager Pep Guardiola and it continues to help adults access sport in Manchester every week.

A record 201 unique participants – both men and women - took part in walking football in the charity’s 2023/2024 reporting year.

The CFA’s iconic huge indoor pitch was also the setting for one of the most memorable CITC moments this past decade when City’s England winger Jack Grealish met young fan Finlay Fisher in November 2022.

Finlay, like Jack’s sister, Holly, has cerebral palsy and was hugely impressed by the way Jack involves her in everything he does.

Finlay sent Jack a moving letter to express his gratitude for all he does, writing: "I wish there were more people in the world just like you who treat people with disabilities the same as anyone else.”

After initially writing back and sending him a signed City shirt, featuring 'Grealish 10', our star winger subsequently decided to head over to the CFA in person where Finlay plays every Monday as part of the disability football team.

WATCH: Jack Grealish's celebration against Iran explained

After meeting the youngster, Grealish asked Finlay to suggest how he should celebrate his next goal.

With Finlay watching at home, our man found the net for England against Iran in the 2022 World Cup finals and immediately waved his arms as suggested in honour of Finlay – an iconic moment that made headlines around the world.

Meanwhile, the City Football Academy is also the location for the Club’s admired and impactful Young Leaders Summits.

Through a variety of sessions and bespoke programmes centred around the CFA, City in the Community coaches help equip Young Leaders, assembled from all corners of the globe, with the skills and confidence to continue to use the power of football to uplift young people in their own communities.

CITC also began delivering its City BTEC and City Degree projects in the wake of the opening of the CFA.

CITC’s degree programme brings together our community football coaching knowledge with Manchester Metropolitan’s academic worlds and offers an integrated path to rewarding career goals.

The degree combines classroom - and practical - based teaching at MMU’s newly launched Institute of Sport with work-based learning held at the CFA.

Delivered in colleges across Greater Manchester as well as sessions at the CFA, the CITC BTEC programme is totally inclusive offering places to male and female participants without trials.

Coaches deliver a holistic education of football, supporting those who want to develop their skills and abilities on the pitch as well as receiving classroom-based education too.

For many years now, CITC has also organised myriad Soccer School sessions in support of children during the school holidays, with the CFA serving as one of the eye-catching locations for the popular initiative which offers free football and healthy meals for children.

Last summer at the CFA City stars John Stones, James McAtee, Matheus Nunes, Jill Roord and Lauren Hemp all surprised unsuspecting youngsters at City in the Community’s (CITC) Soccer School camps across the summer.

Players spoke to participants, signed shirts and watched on as the youngsters proudly showed the City stars their footballing skills.

The CFA also serves as the base for many of CITC's premium events, with the Joie Stadium hosting a special showcase for the first time earlier this year.

The event was organised to demonstrate to stakeholders the important work that CITC is doing to empower lives through football, as well help to create advocates across Greater Manchester for the charity.

Key partners and funders, as well as councillors and business leaders, were invited to the City Football Academy, where they were able to explore stations to find out more about CITC departments, programmes, and participants.

Commenting on the huge positive impact that the City Football Academy has had on so many aspects of the work of CITC, CEO Michael Geary, said: “We are incredibly proud to have called the City Football Academy our home for the last decade.

“Since its conception, we knew we wanted to be able to open the doors for the local community and, over the last ten years, it has become a source of joy and connection for many.

“Although we are, of course, also incredibly proud of our wide-ranging outreach work, the CFA has become a pillar for many of our seventeen programmes and I’d like to thank all our staff and participants who have made it so unique.

“We look forward to making many more memories over the next decade!”

Amongst the many notable sessions delivered across the CFA’s facilities are a host of notable and rewarding project umbrellas covering a wide spectrum of society, including:

One City Disability

The scheme provides opportunity for participants to take part in free football and sporting provision relevant to their specific disability with sessions held at the CFA along with Primary and High Schools along with other community venues across Greater Manchester.

City BTEC

CITC’s BTEC programme aims to be totally inclusive, offering places to both male and female participants without trials.

Coaches deliver a holistic education of football, supporting those who want to develop their skills and abilities on the pitch as well as receiving classroom-based education as well.

The programme provides an opportunity for students who are passionate about football and their education, to combine the two as part of this course.

City Degree

City in the Community’s degree programme brings together our community football coaching knowledge with Manchester Metropolitan’s academic expertise, to offer the best of both worlds and an integrated path to rewarding career goals.

With work-based learning in elite, professional sporting surroundings, this BSc course provides students with the skills, knowledge and experience needed to find success as a coach or sports programme leader.

Soccer Schools

CITC Soccer Schools uses the brand of Manchester City to engage participants in open access football, increasing physical activity throughout the school holidays with regular sessions in communities across the city.

Participants are provided with free full day structured coaching sessions as well as free food provision at all sites to tackle holiday hunger in the most deprived areas of the city.

Sessions are also adapted to include educational and supportive workshops to highlight important topics such as mental health and anti-bullying.

City Girls

The City Girls project engages female participants with free football training, leadership and mentoring opportunities.

Through after-school clubs and community satellites, girls across Greater Manchester have the regular opportunity to play for free with CITC.

Using the power of football and brand of Manchester City, the City Girls project aims to provide safe spaces for girls to engage in football, improve their physical and mental wellbeing and develop their leadership skills.

Military Vets

The Military Vets project sits under CITC’s Healthy Communities pillar, which helps armed forces personnel stay active during and after transition to civilian life.

It is a space for ex-military personnel to engage with each other, and enjoy the social aspects which team sports give, whilst maintaining regular physical exercise.

City LGBTQ+

Predominantly aimed at 16-25-year-olds who identify within the LGBTQ+ community, the project enables young people to enjoy exercise and connect a safe environment.

The weekly sessions, which include coaches who identify within the community, include footballing activities alongside workshops and youth voice opportunities.

City Kicks

Kicks is an outreach programme which provides free evening, weekend and school holiday provision.

Through mentoring and open-access football sessions, including specific Female Empowerment and disability provision, City Kicks is delivered six days a week, 48 weeks a year, ensuring CITC has a consistent presence across Greater Manchester.

The Kicks addresses the lack of opportunity for those living in areas of social deprivation whilst providing positive activities at times and in communities where there is a gap in youth provision.

City Mentoring

Our City Mentoring provision delivers a bespoke mentoring programme for young people aged between eight and 19 years, who are at risk of being affected by Serious Youth Violence, either as a victim or perpetrator.

Young people are referred into the programme either by GMP or Youth Offending services, before they’re given a personal development plan catered to their specific needs and circumstances.

The overall aim is to transition the young people into positive activity, either with CITC or through an external partner.