This should probably have gone out in August. But yep, as everyone knows, we’re much better at the football-related stuff than we are at the less fun tasks.
The season started successfully – and not just in terms of match results, but also in new players joining us and existing players improving and sticking with the SK Way. Our Blues teams particularly began the 23/24 campaign hitting the top end of their respective age groups, there was also amazing growth in our Whites and Reds teams, who both progressed up the MYSL pyramid.
SK’s Italian Job
Excitingly, we also arranged our very first non-domestic tour. May 24 saw us head to Milan, having been invited to play against Milano Football Academy and Italian giants AC Milan. What an absolute privilege and an honour.
Our teams all gave good account of themselves, with a 2-3 defeat for our U9s against their girls, and a 2-2 draw for our U10/11 mix against their boys at the club’s training ground. The U7s meanwhile played an AC Milan pre-academy group as well as some local sides. These games were a delight to watch with our teams playing some amazing football on their way to some superb wins.
Da Iawn Pawb
Our now famous annual Wales Tour moved to a new campsite, Hafan y Mor, near Pwllheli on the stunning Pen Llyn. The new home of the Wales Tour was loved by players and parents alike. As always, it was a fantastic weekend for everyone - and included a couple of trophy wins!
The Presentation Evening took place at Manchester Rugby Club again. An evening of footballing fun celebrated of 200 players’ respective football seasons as part of our club. Not bad, eh? Especially for a club who swore blind they weren’t entering a league just three seasons earlier.
The SK Cup: “The Best Tournament”
Also taking place at Manchester Rugby Club, our annual SK Cup was another resounding success. Teams from across Manchester and Cheshire competed, watched by hundreds of spectators and plenty of pro-club scouts. One of the quotes of the weekend was: “the best tournament we’ve ever attended!” Another club manager said it was the best-organised tournament he’d ever attended. We work hard to make this a great success so feedback like that makes a big difference.
Other Season Highlights
Our U12s were the first-ever SKFC team to win a league.
Our U10 Blues were our first ever team to play in the Nationals, competing to be the best team in England & Wales. We came oh, so close - losing out by just a goal in the final, crowning us the second-best team in the country.
Various pro club visits saw us challenging our players in the very highest of standards across the foundation phase, including some notable wins against strong opposition.
One of our partner clubs, Bramhall’s Mountfield Rovers, held an amazing fundraiser for Ward 85 at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. This was to support Briggsy - an U9 Jets player - who’s been bravely battling leukaemia. Briggsy is also deservedly known as Oliver the Incredible.
Our U9 Whites were Champions Cup winners in the MYSL, while U10 & U7 Blues came close runners-up.
Various teams emerged victorious in the MYSL season finale at Buxton, taking home trophies to celebrate a fantastic season.
Several of our players went on to sign for big clubs, including players from our partner club Stockport Dynamoes who had players sign at Man United, Stoke and Stockport.
We had two goalkeepers go on to sign for Manchester City - Jesse from our Mountfield U8s, and Cameron from Mountfield & SK U10s.
We welcomed back Luke, who rejoined the SK coaching team after over a year out.
Our U7s won a tournament at Everton, cementing their place as one of the strongest teams in the region.
Our U10 Blues won the Manchester United Emerging Talent tournament, which saw lots of our players get recognition - and some invites - from the United staff.
U10 Blues were crowned MYSL Champions of Champions after winning the South Christmas Cup, we took on the winners of the North and scored a big win.
U10 Blues won the Fleetwood Town Christmas Tournament. After finishing as runners-up twice before, it was third time lucky!
U9 Reds were crowned Champions of the Christmas Cup, earning promotion to a higher division for the new year as a result
U7 Blues also enjoyed Christmas Cup success, who put in a simply incredible performance to win the U8 Prem award.
Our partner clubs enjoyed Christmas Cup success too - Mountfield took the U7 Dev trophy and U10s Prem, while Stockport Dynamoes U8 won the U8 Prem title.
It is perhaps fitting that we release our round-up newsletter at this point, as the last point was to mention that, as always, #SKRemembers. All our teams proudly wore their poppies over remembrance weekend and will do so again over the coming weekends. Lest we forget…
SK Does the Business
We began our season round-up lamenting our less-than-stellar office abilities. Well, one huge development may just help us sort that out. We are thrilled to have an office in the amazing Hive365, who’ve sponsored our footy club for the new season. Just how good does their logo look on our smart new kits? Our new kit supplier is Golazzo, a company set up by England hero and City's assistant manager under Roberto Mancini. We just had to base the design on Platty's iconic Sampdoria kit.
HIVE 365 is a vibrant and dynamic workspace in the centre of Handforth. Well-equipped and well-appointed, HIVE365 offers 13 private offices, 26 dedicated desks, a fully equipped conference room, multiple meeting rooms, inviting chill-out areas, and modern kitchen facilities. With food. And drink! That's a win for us.
We’re particularly taken with the pool table. You might prefer the golf simulator. EVERYONE loves the collaborative and comfortable environment. Hive say ‘embrace the future of work.’ We’re actually quite happy (well, ok, less UNhappy) to do the non-football work now we have such a brilliant place to do it. Book a tour and come join us. We're always up for a game of pool...
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