From August 9 to 15 in Manchester, at the City Football Academy where both Manchester City's first team and its academy trainees are prepared, a delegation from the Ukrainian Association of Football is working. This is already the second major educational visit by the UAF to Manchester within the framework of cooperation with an English club.

Who is training in England with the UAF?

The main idea is simple: knowledge should go where it immediately turns into training and results. Therefore, the core of the group consists of coaches from children's and youth football. Twenty-one coaches — those who work daily with talented Ukrainian children.

Sixteen participants are representatives of clubs from the PRO League and National League of the Future, as well as teams in the upper part of the Elite League table. That is, coaches of Ukrainian academies that today form the backbone of Ukraine's youth national teams.

Five more places were given to coaches of girls' teams from various leagues in Ukraine (from U-15 to Prime League).

Also in the delegation are UAF's Department of Football Development Director Bohdan Hordyniuk, Youth and Children’s Football Programs Manager Maxim Syrota, and head coach of Ukraine's U-21 national team Dmitro Mykhaylenko.

Schedule of activities

The program is structured so that theory immediately reflects on the football field. Ukrainians will examine how Manchester City builds training sessions, organizes processes on the pitch, and develops not only players but also coaches. Then there will be an opportunity to see it in action: during children's academy and youth team trainings.

But the main thing is yet to come: in the second half of the week, Ukrainian experts will themselves conduct sessions on academy fields — after instruction from Manchester City coaches and with a detailed review immediately after each session. This is no longer a theoretical tour into processes and philosophy but practical work under the supervision of mentors from one of the world's best academies.

In addition, our delegation will visit Etihad Stadium and Manchester City's first team training.

What has this partnership already delivered?

The partnership between the UAF and Manchester City began in summer 2024. Its first result was a training program for 20 Ukrainian children's coaches within the club system in January 2025.

Knowledge then began to scale up within the country. The UAF, together with regional associations, launched a nationwide series of seminars "Philosophy and Methodology of Manchester City Academy." They were held in 17 regions of Ukraine, and over 1000 Ukrainian coaches participated.
 

Photo: UAF

A Methodology That Is Already Working in Ukraine

The most striking example of how English methodologies are taking root in Ukrainian soil is the team from UAF's Development Center with children born in 2018–2019.

These children have been training according to the methodology of Manchester City's academy since their first day in football, adapted for our realities by trainers from the Center who underwent training in 2025. Within a year of work, the team achieved its first tournament success — third place in Kyiv's district championship.

Significantly, the coaches themselves emphasize that results are not the main focus here. At this age, the emphasis is on basic elements of play, teamwork, and physical and social skill development. Medals became more a secondary confirmation that the system works.

The Logic of the Strategy

Cooperation with Manchester City is part of a wide-ranging UAF strategy centered on the development of child footballers rather than the importance and weight of results. Reforming children's and youth competitions and launching the National League of the Future created competitive conditions at this level. Training coaches gives meaning and quality to this environment.

Photo: UAF