Arms crossed across the shoulders, smiles spreading across young faces, and phrases written in marker on white shirts.

The image is typical of those taken around this time of year as schools let out and futures begin to slowly come together.

But this image is a little different. These four regular schoolboys have remarkable futures ahead of them.

Tosin Kehinde, who currently plays for Randers in the Danish first division, is pictured on the left. Jimmy Dunne, a regular in QPR’s defense this year, is in the center. Axel Tuanzebe, who has been a member of the Stoke team for the past six months, is pictured on the right.

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Accept and carry on
Marcus Rashford, a star for Manchester United, is pictured at the front.

The picture was taken at Ashton on Mersey School, where United academy hopefuls have been passing through the halls for 25 years in groups.

The students there are tomorrow’s stars today.

And it’s not Manchester’s only example.

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Nick Cox, the head of Manchester United’s academy and a former teacher himself, predicts that “many, many, many of our boys will stay at their own schools.”

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“We’ll establish fantastic ties with those institutions to make sure we stay in touch frequently and integrate their curriculum with ours.

I firmly believe that you should spend as much time as you can at home with your family, in your own bed, and with your friends from school.

However, there are instances when switching to a school designed for the demands placed on an aspiring Premier League star makes sense, especially as players get older, more distant players join the academy, and their football demands increase.

The prestigious institution Manchester Grammar institution, which recently collaborated with United, is located 30 minutes away from United’s Carrington practice facility.

However, Ashton on Mersey State School in Sale, which enrolls more of the club’s prospects, is closer.

The connection is the country’s oldest of its kind.

Former Ashton on Mersey PE director David Law witnessed its infancy and growth.

He recalls that the effort “came out of the specialist college in the late 1990s.”

“Ashton on Mersey desired to be a sports college; nevertheless, you required £100,000 in private sponsorship. Many schools were battling it out for funding.

I attended a meeting in Loughborough where it was indicated that many Premier League clubs were seeking to collaborate with educational institutions.

Law spent his formative years as a Manchester City trainee. He still supports City. But United had a connection from his time as a local youth team coach.

He dialed a number. He soon discovered himself in a conference.

The headmaster and United’s finance director, David Gill, were present, and at the conclusion, United wrote a check for £100,000, according to Law.

The investment turned out to be wise.

On a Thursday morning in March 2003, less than five years later, Law was forced to quickly alter his class plan.

“Darren Fletcher had made his debut as an 18-year-old the previous evening in the Champions League against FC Basel,” recalls Law.

School in Ashton on Mersey
In its most recent Ofsted inspection, Ashton on Mersey School received an excellent rating. “He had played really well, and he didn’t sleep when he got home because the adrenaline was still flowing through his system,” said the student.

“However, the following morning, he arrived at school promptly for 8:45. In order for him to speak to the students about his experiences the previous evening, I literally had to pause the session. He was a fantastic character and a lovely young man.

On a Monday in February 2016, Rashford arrived at his destination promptly.

The 18-year-old got two goals in a 3-2 victory over Arsenal the day before. Another Ashton on Mersey student, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, made his Premier League debut during the match.

As the school’s headteacher, Aidan Moloney, recalled to the Telegraph at the time, “I walked into the sixth-form common room on Monday morning, before lessons began, and Marcus Rashford was playing pool with one of the other sixth-form boys.”

Tim and Marcus desired to attend class on Monday. They desired to be in their company.

The staff came over to congratulate Marcus and Tim before the bell rang at 9:00 and they started classes right away.

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It can come down to a matter of faith when deciding what St Bede’s College has done most to shape Manchester City’s past.

Then-manager Roberto Mancini entered the school’s chapel on a Sunday morning in May 2012, sat in a pew, and prayed.

A few hours later, against Queens Park Rangers, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero scored in stoppage time to complete a remarkable comeback and give City their first league title in 44 years.

It is clearer how St. Bede’s helped Phil Foden join the first team.

At the age of twelve, Foden transferred from Stockport Academy to St. Bede’s.

Since 2011, the club has worked with the private school, one mile from City’s former Maine Road residence. While Foden is the most popular product, there have been many others.

Three former students who went on to play for City at the senior level are Cole Palmer, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, and Tosin Adarabioyo, who is currently with Fulham.

Inadvertently, the arrangement has also made United’s ranks stronger.

Cardinal Herbert Vaughan, who later became the Archbishop of Westminster, established St. Bede’s in 1876.
Cardinal Herbert Vaughan, who later became the Archbishop of Westminster, founded St. Bede’s in 1876. Jadon Sancho and promising youngster Charlie McNeill, both of whom attended St. Bede’s as City Academy prospects, have since crossed over and now represent the city’s red neighborhood.

Like United, City has partnerships with public and private schools; some of their prospects attend Barlow RC High School in Didsbury, a posh area.

However, the majority of them make their way from St. Bede’s to the City Football Academy (CFA), where the young teams practice in view of Etihad Stadium.

Foden recalled his time at St. Bede’s in 2022 by saying, “I used to do half days and then do training.”

It was incredibly fun because we looked forward to getting on the coach outside after supper to go to practice.

The daily schedule is a little bit more variable than what Foden explains; even members of City’s under-16 team spend two full schooldays a week in St. Bede’s classrooms.

City, though, have a valuable talent. They can bring the school to their boys as well as bring their boys to the school.

The CFA has eight classrooms, and St. Bede’s teachers will travel there with their students so they can give courses about training there.

playing for Manchester City Academy versus Liverpool is Phil Foden
In January 2017, a 16-year-old Phil Foden was participating in a Manchester City Academy game.
The same standards for academic performance apply to every student. Players from City miss club practice if they have a detention at school.

97% of City’s Academy players at St. Bede’s earned at least four Cs in their GCSEs in the summer of 2021, and 38% earned seven A grades or above. Both numbers are significantly higher than the US average.

Foden, though, has said that, for him at least, there were times when the emphasis shifted from the books.

In November 2019, when St Bede’s tweeted to congratulate the then-18-year-old on being the youngest Englishman to score in the Champions League, he responded ironically by saying that the goal was an excuse to skip homework.

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One issue is meeting academic standards; another is integrating with new classmates.

Some teenage athletes are adjusting to living in a foreign nation in addition to trying to overcome the difficulties and become professionals.

Among the teenagers that attended Ashton on Mersey were Paul Pogba, Gerard Pique, and Giuseppe Rossi, who had immigrated to the UK at a young age to join Manchester United’s squad.

To make things as simple as possible, they lived with local families, some of whom were on Cecil Avenue, the same street as the school, and had the opportunity to work with a tutor to improve their English.

For new St. Bede’s students, City has a transition procedure that can take many months and involves numerous non-football-related meetings between the school, family, and club.

St. Bede’s apparently forbids the young City players from donning club-branded coats in order to help them blend in and avoid standing out.

But it is challenging. A Premier League club’s fame might have an impact on a school’s social scene.

When United prospects first came to Ashton on Mersey in the early years of the collaboration, Law remarked, “I think it was mixed really.”

“I believe that some of the guys may have been a little envious of these prospective superstars when they were out and about.

However, the girls at the school were extremely crazy over the boys. I believe it led to the development of one or two relationships.

Rashford is involved in one of those unions. He is married to another former student.

Before playing Newcastle, the Manchester United under-18 team posed for a photo with players Ravel Morrison (back row, far left), Paul Pogba (back row, far right), Michele Fornasier (front row, second from left), and Jesse Lingard (front row, far right).
From February 2011, a Manchester United under-18 team. The Ashton on Mersey students on the team included Ravel Morrison (back row, far left), Paul Pogba (back row, far right), Michele Fornasier (front row, second from left), and Jesse Lingard (front row, far right).
Cox asserts that United’s goal is, for the most part, to remain inconspicuous in a young player’s life, regardless of the stir their presence may have generated.

We cannot rule over their life, he asserts. “We can’t make a world where being a football player is their only identity.

“I desire for the guys to be regular. They will put on the uniform, learn in the same classroom as the other students, and be encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities. We want them to take part in the school play, pick up the violin, and do all of those other things.

It seems to function. In his final year at the school, Jesse Lingard served as Ashton on Mersey’s deputy head boy. Alongside Law, Ravel Morrison would teach smaller children about physical education while exhibiting a variety of sports.

The area of school life where academy students may theoretically be most involved is really the difficult.

The football team for St. Bede’s does not feature any City players. It is believed that both the other squad and other students at their school would be treated unfairly.

The United policy is more flexible. In their under-16 team, there have been players who cram school football, cricket, or rugby games into a busy schedule. But it is unusual.

Athletics is frequently a suitable balance because it requires less coordinated practice with team members and no contact.

At a recent Manchester-wide schools championship, City players competed for St. Bede’s.

In 2014, Ro-Shaun Williams ran the 100 meters in 10.99 seconds, shattering the 25-year-old Ashton on Mersey record held by Olympic silver medalist Darren Campbell. Williams would compete against Rashford and Tuanzebe in post-training sprints at Carrington.

Williams, a defender who participated in several friendlies for United before departing in 2019, is currently at Doncaster.

Wherever his students attend school and whatever they do there, Cox emphasizes that learning extends well outside the classroom.

In addition to teaching its players how to handle their funds, United also pays for advanced driving lessons. They gain knowledge of the club’s past and the wider world. In order to comprehend the significance of the Holocaust, one group recently visited Auschwitz.

Some of them will be present at Wembley today to see their first-team teammates compete against City in the FA Cup final.

They must reflect on our program in the future and say, “That was incredible, it has enriched my life,” contends Cox. “Creating memories that our children will always remember is a part of it.

“By dedicating themselves to our football program, they will learn a great deal about finding meaning in life, become fit and healthy, travel the world, meet interesting people, develop discipline, learn how to be punctual, become really good communicators, and become dedicated to learning.

Everybody departs from the academy. Some leave for the starting lineup, some for other starting lineups, and some depart for fantastic employment outside of sports.

“It is important to me that they have maximized their potential at the end of this journey, whether they become a footballer or not,” the coach said.

Each leaver leaves with lessons learnt, whether they exchange their school shirt with the graffiti for a United shirt, a City shirt, or neither.