Trailblazers – Manchester United Heritage
Man Utd Academy kicked off their Trailblazers work last summer when they focused on Dennis Walker’s contribution to the Club. While Manchester Utd Academy have on their staff a well known ‘trailblazer’, Academy programme adviser Tony Whelan, Tony himself pushed the Club to look at Dennis who was the first player of Black heritage to play for the First Team back in May 1963.
This season the academy are developing an ambitious new approach which will set the Black and Asian experience within the wider story of the Club’s diverse history. Working with the Club historian, the Academy has created a list of players representing every aspect of heritage across religion, ethnicity, nationality and race. The U15s are starting out by researching their stories and their football attributes to build their own Man Utd heritage team. To qualify each team must include a range of players and deliver maximum football capabilities. Later in the season there will be an exciting opportunity to put their teams to the test with a unique Pro Evo tournament.
Watch this space.