For the first time since the formation of the Academy structure, Norwich sent a youth team into an indoor tournament as an Under-13 squad travelled to Germany over the weekend 15th January 2005. While indoor tournaments are a regular fixture during the winter break on the continent, British sides are used to playing outside throughout the winter. The Canary squad would have to learn quickly to compete with some of the top german teams in the five-a-side tournament. The City squad, consisting of 8 players, flew to Germany on the Friday and after a delay for fog had the chance on Friday evening to train in the arena which would stage the tournament in Bingen the next day. Bingen is a town in the vineyard region on the the river Rhine and the City party, led by Academy Manager Ricky Martin, stayed in accomodation in the hills above the Rhine valley.

Bingen on Rhine, a view from the castle

Friday's training session

Physio Nathan Goss had plenty of work to do to get the team ready for Saturday's tournament as Nigel Worthington's luck with injuries seemed to hit the Under-13 boys. The first game at 10am in the morning was against local side and hosts Hassia Bingen. The Canaries' inexperience at the indoor game was apparent in this first match as they struggled to turn possession into goals against the locals who raised their game against "Premier League" opposition. A 2-1 defeat was the result as Bingen grabbed two goals on the break to celebrate an early victory. This setback left Norwich needing to win their next two group games to qualify for the 2nd round. The next match was against Ingelsheim, another local club. City improved their performance significantly and scored a couple of good goals in running out 3-1 winners.

The final game in the first round was against Fortuna Düsseldorf. The former Bundesliga club proved tough opposition but in the end Norwich deservedly won the match 1-0 to qualify for the next round. The second round would now see games against Brondby from Denmark and another ex-Bundesliga club Waldhof Mannheim. The tournament format was such that City needed at least four points from these two games to be reasonably sure of reaching the semi-finals. The Canaries started well and produced some excellent indoor football in beating Brondby 5-1. Some good defending and great goals set the scene for the show-down with Mannheim who had shown themselves to be one of the strongest sides during the course of the tournament.

Indoor action

The slow shutter speed indoors creates an interesting photo as City go for goal against Mannheim

City lost very unluckily 3-2 to Mannheim having twice pulled back from a goal behind. As the Germans went on to contest the final this result shows that City had more than held their own in the tournament. Indeed, had Brondy not achieved a somewhat improbable result against Bingen, Norwich would have qualified for the semi-finals. As it was, the Canaries' final match would be a fifth place play-off against FC Cologne. With your reporter living in Cologne, I was more than keen to see a good result against my home town club. It was smiles all round as Norwich controlled the game and raced to a 4-1 lead before tiring and allowing FC to fight back to 4-4. Of course, the Germans won the penalty shoot-out! After the tournament, Academy Manager Ricky Martin was positive in his summary. "We have travelled to an Indoor tournament for the first time as an Academy. It was a new experience and has proved to be a very valuable training and development aid" said Ricky.

"5-a-side is a new experience for the boys and different to the 11-a-side game they are used too. It took us some time to get used to the new conditions and the defeat in the first game cost us a semi-final place" continued Ricky. "I will look to put Indoor tournaments into our calendar and give Academy players experience as I think it is valuable in their development as young players." "The tournament was very well organised with excellent hospitality from our German hosts. The living accommodation and food has been of the highest standard" Ricky added.
Opponents Result Scorers Hassia Bingen 1-2 Cherno Bari Ingelheim 3-1 Cherno Bari, George Wilson 2 Fortuna Dusseldorf 1-0 Jack Jones Brondby IF (2nd Round) 5-1 Sam Habergham, Cherno Bari 2, Sam Artherton 2 Waldhof Mannheim 2-3 Cherno Bari, Sam Habergham FC Cologne (5th Place) 4-4 (lost on pens) Tom Gowman, Sam Habergham, Sam Arthurton, George Wilson	Tension during the penalty shoot-out
Left without a tournament on the following day, the Under-13 Canaries found themselves playing a couple of friendly games on sunday morning.Sunday Report Here.

City Squad: Jed Steer, Sam Habergham, George Wilson, Jack Jones, Chez Rust, Sam Arthurton, Tom Gowman, Cherno Bari Staff: Ricky Martin (Academy Manager), Ken Adey (Education Officer), Nathan Goss (Physio)

Further Impressions From The Bingen Tournament
Stretching	Smiles all around as the Norwich players enjoy their food
Education Officer Ken Adey and Norwich fan Claudia Kohlen watch the training	Physio Nathan Goss shows his basketball skills
"Guten Tag Ref!"	Ricky Martin makes his point after a game
Anxious moments on the side lines	The squad line up at the closing ceremony
The Norwich team with officials
All the players with the trophy they won
Report and Pictures courtesy of Paul Standley.