Day 3: Football, football, football (7/26/2016)

Tuesday was all about football (aka soccer).

After breakfast we headed over to a local school for some pro-training by Manchester City-licensed coaches. The training was fantastic. The quality of the training was fantastic & the boys seemed energized and enthusiastic.

After the 2+ hour training, the boys changed and we headed over to Manchester. Half of the team headed to tour the Manchester United stadium while the other half toured Manchester City. We went traditional and toured Manchester United.

We had our small group (13 people - including parents and kids) and got the grand tour of the stadium. We started off exploring the museum where the boys were able to check out trophies, old jerseys, news articles, and more

After exploring the museum we headed down to start the tour. We got to see the stadium, the pitch, the locker rooms, the VIP suites, and the press room. The history around that stadium was fascinating and the boys seemed to love the experience.

We learned that the grass on the pitch is made up of 3% synthetic grass woven in with natural grass to make it stronger and limit the damage to the field from the games. When we walked in to the stands there was a heavy scent of garlic. Almost like the kitchen from their cafe was close by and they were cooking Italian food. What we learned was they were spraying the field with garlic to get rid of bugs. I never knew garlic was a bug deterrent!

The "locker room" wasn't really a locker room...but more of a big room with a bench going around the perimeter and hooks on the wall.

A funny story about the above full length mirror. Originally the mirror was really a much smaller mirror (maybe a 1/3 of the size shown above). But a certain former player of Manchester United wanted a FULL LENGTH mirror so he could see his full body. Can you guess which former player requested this? It was Cristiano Rinaldo! They kept the mirror and now refer to it as Rinaldo's mirror even after he left.

Brad specifically asked to have his photo taken in the Away seats for the players since he is a Chelsea fan (not really Manchester United).

After dinner, the boys had another short training then headed to bed while the parents gathered in the hotel bar for some laughs. It was a great day!

To check out more photos on our 3rd day, check out the full photo album HERE.