5th June, 2013
National First Division outfit Mpumalanga Black Aces, who are on the verge of returning to top flight football, have partnered with English football giants Manchester City in a football development programme.
Aces, who were relegated from the Absa Premiership in the 2010/11 season, have announced a joint venture with the 2011/12 Barclays Premier League champions which might see some of South Africa’s young footballers pursuing their careers with the Etihad Stadium outfit.
Aces chairman Mario Morfou is hopeful that the newly revealed partnership between these two institutions will merge to create a football school which will be beneficial for both parties.
“Our partnership is for the next three years,” Morfou told Metro FM.
“We will be selecting a team from the academy once a year and sending them off to Man City. They will come here once a year and personally select the boys they want to go over there, but we hope they come down here to scout more than once a year, maybe three times.
“We will start a youth programme in Mpumalanga for players between the ages of 6 to 19-years of age.
“Man City will communicate with us on how to run the football programme and to follow their style of play which is the 4-3-3 system.
“With this being a partnership we hope it is mutually beneficially for both sides. We would also hope to get some of their under-19 players coming to play for us on a loan a spell.”
South African football is no stranger to this sort of relationship. Ajax Cape Town and mother side Ajax Amsterdam of Holland have a similar programme, as does former Absa Premiership champions SuperSport United with Tottenham Hotspur and Dutch side Feyenoord.