A Norwich Academy Under-11 squad found the going tough as they travelled on a FONCY sponsored trip to Germany for an indoor tournament near Bremen on January 13th and 14th. The excellently run Jugendfoerderkreis Cup, staged by the local club MTV Riede, created an excellent atmosphere in the packed indoor arena with the top clubs from Germany being joined by Norwich, Feyenoord Rotterdam and Slavia Prague from abroad. Each match was announced with music and lights in a darkened arena which added to the experience for the young boys in front of a large crowd. The City party arrived from Luton airport on the Friday evening and was allowed the luxury of a relaxing morning with their group games starting after lunch on Saturday following the formal opening ceremony.

Action from the FC Cologne match

City go close against Stuttgart

Due to the different cut-off dates for age groups in Germany, City were forced to create a squad from the younger Under-11 players complemented with Under-10 squad members. Their planning was further hampered by two late call-offs due to injuries. As luck would have it, Norwich's first game was against the team from the local host club, giving the City youngsters a chance to get accustomed to the unfamiliar surface against the moderate but spirited and fair opposition of MTV Riede. City ran out 8-0 winners in a one-sided game. Perhaps the easy opening game wasn't such a good idea after all as in the second game City came up against top Bundesliga club Schalke 04.

With the German players generally playing indoor football through the winter months fom the age of six or seven, it was no surprise that Schalke held the upper-hand, nevertheless the Norwich delegation were disappointed that the game resulted in a 6-0 defeat. The next two group games saw Norwich put up much better performances again Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund (who went on to win the tournament). Both games were lost 2-1 but the Canaries had chances to get at least a point out of both matches. The last game on Saturday saw a 3-0 defeat against Hertha Berlin with the Norwich players seemingly feeling the effects of a long day.

City go close against Dortmund

City on the attack against Riede

Sunday morning saw two further group games with a play-off match to follow in the afternoon. Norwich failed to show the fighting spirit that had been apparent in at least some of Saturday's matches and lost all of Sunday's matches against FC Cologne, Hannover 96 and VfB Stuttgart to leave the Canaries in 14th place in the tournament. The young canary squad gained a lot of experience in this unfamiliar format of the game on an unfamiliar surface against quality opposition and will have learnt a lot for the future. As always, they were very well behaved and a credit to Norwich City.

Results table Opponents Result Scorers MTV Riede 8-0 B. Wyatt 3, K. Hunt 2, J. Burgess, B.Lake, C. Brooks Schalke 04 0-6   Mainz 05 1-2 Angus Gunn Borussia Dortmund 1-2 Joe Burgess Hertha Berlin 0-3   FC Cologne 1-5 Joe Burgess Hannover 96 0-3   VfB Stuttgart (13th Place) 0-3	Action against Stuttgart
City Squad: Angus Gunn, Joe Burgess, Mac Gee, Ben George, Bradley Lake, Cameron Brooks, Kieran Hunt, Ben Wyatt. Travelling Staff: Ricky Martin (Academy Manager), Doug Evans (Coach), Ken Adey (Welfare), Colin Watts (Youth Development Officer).

More Action From The Tournament
City and Riede take the floor	Close up action v Schalke 04

City in action against Riede

Stuttgart go close

It's the way Dougie tells 'em

Cologne fans support their team

For a further picture gallery from the tournament please click here. City Line Up with coaches Dougie Evans and Colin Watts

Report and Pictures courtesy of Paul Standley.