Manchester grassroots football club celebrating as two young sides win tournament in Netherlands

A Manchester football team is celebrating after going to the Netherlands and not just winning one tournament - but two!

Whalley Range Under-15s’ trip to the Holland Cup in Almere on the outskirts of Amsterdam over Easter Weekend proved so popular that they were able to field a team in the two tournaments that were held simultaneously.

With teams from 10 different countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, France, Denmark and Sweden, taking part, competition was tough, but both teams prevailed in the two-day tournament, overcoming teams from Amsterdam and Sweden in the respective finals.

It left coach Warren Burton delighted not only with the results on the pitch but by the fact his players had created memories for life over the weekend.

“It was amazing,” Warren beamed. “We’d been waiting to go since the start of Covid as it got cancelled, so getting round to doing it, going there and winning it is a great achievement. We did really well.

“I’ve coached the same group of lads for many years and we have had success, like winning local leagues and cups and stuff.

“We do try to do a lot for them and create opportunities to play abroad - we’ve played in France and Belgium before - but we’ve never actually won a tournament when we’ve been travelling, so to win this time is pretty special.”

Despite there being a number of language barriers between the teams taking part in the tournament, Warren hailed the sportsmanship and camaraderie on display throughout the two days.

He also felt the experience of playing sides from different countries was an eye-opening one for his players.

“That was one of the main things, it was a big learning curve for the lads, especially against teams like the Dutch sides, who didn’t like much