July 25 – Manchester City owner City Football Group (CFG) is expanding its business in the US and Canada to grassroots playing and training facilities with UK-based Goals Soccer Centres, the world’s largest operator of dedicated, 5-a-side pitches.
The sites will all be jointly City and Goals branded, though it is unclear how much club branding CFG will use in the new business. As well as Man City, CFG owns New York City FC in the US, Melbourne City in Australia, Yokohama f Marinos in Japan and CA Torque in Uruguay.
Ferran Soriano (pictured right), chief executive of City Football Group, said: “This is a very exciting development for our plans in the US and Canada. Soccer is indisputably the world’s number one sport and growing fast in this region. We have an ambitious vision to help this growth, including our ownership of New York City FC in MLS and many other initiatives like the one we are announcing today.
“The best way for people to fall in love with soccer is by participating. There are a very large number of soccer players in the US and Canada, of all ages, and facilities, like the ones we have and will build, will help tremendously.”
As well as owning NYCFC, Man City has also been active on the West Coast, with the San Diego-based Manchester City Cup, run by Surf Soccer, as well as running community programmes in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles.
The club is currently on pre-season tour in the US, having already played Manchester United in Houston, and with games coming up against Real Madrid in Los Angeles on July 26 and against Tottenham Hotspur in Nashville on July 29. The matches form part of the International Champions Cup.
Nick Basing (pictured left), chairman of Goals, said: “This is a transformational agreement for our Company to grow and strengthen the North American business. We are delighted to be partnered with a global leader in soccer and believe the combination will give us significant competitive advantage at a time when the emerging market is in its infancy.”
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