3/22/06

 

Director Of Coaching Leaves For Manchester United Today

Richard Butler will visit Manchester United Youth Academy and the senior team

 

Richard Butler, Director of Coaching for the Williamsburg Soccer Club (WSC), leaves today for a visit to Manchester United. Through a joint program with Manchester United and Nike, Butler will visit and see first hand the academy system and the senior team facilities. While there he will also meet with Manchester United officials concerning the Manchester United soccer camp that will take place in Williamsburg the June. “I’m very excited about going to Manchester United for the next five days”, said Butler . “I will get a chance to see their youth operations close up when I visit the academy tomorrow. Since I have been at the WSC I have tried to fashion a club that resembles other professional academies from around the world while taking into consideration our American soccer culture. Manchester United has arguably one of the best academies in the world. The coaches there have produced some fantastic players that are household names such as David Beckham, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs. It is an honor for me to be invited to have a look at how they do things”.

 

Butler will leave today and arrive in Manchester tomorrow morning. Later in the day he is to have meetings concerning the Manchester United Soccer Schools camp that will be held in conjunction with the WSC this summer. In the evening he will get a first hand look at the Manchester United Youth academy and watch several youth training sessions at their facility. On Friday the itinerary calls for further meeting and a chance to see the senior team train in the morning. On Saturday Butler will see Championship promotion hopefuls Leeds United play Stoke City and then on Sunday see Manchester United play Wigan Athletic at the famous Old Trafford Stadium.

 

“I’m always looking for ways to improve our club and bring new ideas back to our coaches and players”, commented Butler . “It will be very interesting for me to see another new youth academy close up not only from a coaching point of view but also from a facilities and management one too. Getting to see the senior team train will be a real bonus. To see the likes of Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy and Ferdinand train and then play in a game should be very interesting. And don’t forget that there are American ties to Manchester United with Tim Howard being there too”, he continued.

 

To follow Butler during his trip log on to the official web site of the WSC at www.williamsburgsoccer.com as he send us his daily “blog”. For more information on Manchester United Football Club go to www.manutd.com.