Crystal Palace Tie up with Mumbai City FC
English Premier League club Crystal Palace has tied up with Mumbai ISL franchise Mumbai City FC. Mumbai City FC along with Star Sports and Crystal Palace will stage a trial on thursday December 11th for 16-19 years olds in Mumbai.
12 players selected from this trial will be invited to perform their skills at the Barclays Premier League’s international fan park in Mumbai where live Premier League matches are to be screened.
A Crystal Palace delegation, led by club ambassador Mark Bright, will be assessing the selected footballers and the winner of the Play for Palace will travel to London to train with Crystal Palace’s young prospects.
Mark Bright who has scored more than 100 goals for Palace was quoted saying,
“This will be the chance of a lifetime. The winner of the competition will get a fantastic experience playing at the Academy and then go back to India to become an ambassador for Palace.
“This is a unique initiative. Everyone has a favourite local team and favourite overseas team – we want football fans in India to follow us.
“We know cricket is the number one sport in India, but football is global and it would be great to see an Indian-born player in the Premier League one day. They would become an idol and an inspiration”.
Crystal Palace chief executive Phil Alexander was quoted in the media saying, “We are very excited to be going to India to show ourselves to a new army of fans. The Premier League is booming in India and it’s a great chance for us to extend the club’s reach”.
A Mumbai City FC spokesman is also quoted in the reports. He said : “India,and Mumbai in particular, has a lot of football talent waiting to be harnessed and promoted. This initiative will provide a great platform for the youth of the city to showcase their skills and win the opportunity of a lifetime”.
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