Over the weekend, The New Saints Academy 2012s attended the Johan Cruyff Cup.

The Johan Cruyff Cup is a pro-club tournament which takes place annually in memory of the legendary former Ajax and Barcelona player. Sixteen teams from Spain, Holland, Japan, Thailand, the USA, Africa, Peru, and Ireland attended the prestigious competition in Salou, Spain.

Our Lead 2012s Coach, Liam Kelleher, reflects on what was an amazing life experience for our Young Saints.

Friday

Our trip began at club sponsors Liverpool John Lennon Airport. It’s always a stressful experience for staff herding sheep through an airport, which was made even more so when one of the lads accidentally scanned a member of staff’s boarding pass instead of their own. This resulted in us temporarily losing a member of staff while check-in ran extra checks!

Onto security – one lad walked through the body scanner with a mobile phone in his pocket, and another had a full bottle of water in his bag! After all that excitement, the lads were able to look through the shops, where they met ex-TNS Scholar Charlie and chatted with him.

Despite the horrendous weather leaving Liverpool, we had a good flight into Barcelona. For two of our lads it was their first time flying, and they loved it. Jac said the best bit was “that feeling in your belly during the fast take-off.”

When we arrived in Barcelona, we met our Coaches Voice Tour rep, Manu, and made our way to our accommodation in Salou. The complex we stayed at was amazing – we slept in beautiful log cabins. There were paddle courts, crazy golf, and spa facilities, and the Mediterranean-style buffet food was excellent all weekend.

After a busy day of travelling, we got our heads down ready for an exciting weekend ahead.

Saturday

The start to our tournament could not have been tougher as we were playing Ajax. Ajax are one of the best academies in the world, and their graduates include Johan Cruyff, Dennis Bergkamp, Frenkie de Jong, and Christian Eriksen, to name a few.

You could tell the lads were a little nervous. We told them all they should concentrate on was simply enjoying the opportunity – it’s one not many young footballers will ever experience. Believe in ourselves, try to create memories, and hold that space.

The first 15 minutes were tough. We defended well and worked extremely hard without the ball but couldn’t get out of our half. Ajax went ahead, but shortly before half-time we had a couple of half-chances and the lads began to believe we could compete.

The second half was completely different. We grew in confidence with every pass and tackle. With 12 minutes remaining, Jac picked the ball up in his own half, beat half the Ajax team, and put the ball top bins from 30 yards out. Absolute scenes followed – all the lads on top of each other and our fans going wild. That is without doubt the best moment I’ve experienced in football – incredible.

What followed in the final few minutes were surreal conversations between coaches questioning whether we should take the point or go for the win. Full-time: Ajax 1-1 The New Saints.

Our second game followed in the afternoon against Potrillos Alianza from Peru. The Peruvian team had chances in the first half, hitting the post and bar on separate occasions. The effects of a late night travelling and the outstanding performance against Ajax were evident.

We started the second half very positively, created many chances, and eventually came out 1-0 winners with a goal from Tommy Williams. This finished the day with very happy players after the memories they had made.

The lads weren’t finished there – it was time to explore the complex and test out the many activities on offer!

Sunday

Sunday was an early start, with the lads meeting for breakfast at 6am. The morning game was the final group-stage fixture against FC Nara from Japan. Going into the game, FC Nara were top on six points, with us second on four. A draw would see us through to the quarter-finals, while a win would place us top of the group.

The lads were bandaged up by our physio, James Steer, after the cuts and grazes from day one, and into the game we went. FC Nara were a very good team – our player Toby said, “That was the most technical team I’ve ever played.”

We went 1-0 down within the first 10 minutes but responded well, with Freddie Pugh equalising. Overall, the performance was positive going into half-time, and then Michael Bradshaw put us 2–1 up. We had to defend for long periods with some heroic blocks and outstanding tackles. However, FC Nara equalised with around two minutes to go, and the game finished 2-2, which meant we qualified for the quarter-finals where we faced Espanyol – another massive La Liga club.

Before the afternoon game, we were lucky enough to watch Barcelona play Getafe in the 2012 age group. Some of the lads recognised the Barcelona players from social media, and there were some outstanding goals which were applauded by our players and parents.

Espanyol started strongly, scoring four quick-fire goals to lead 4-0 at half-time. The atmosphere was electric, with TNS parents doing their best to sing over the Espanyol supporters’ instruments – a fantastic experience for the lads.

At half-time, we spoke about holding our heads high and giving everything, which the players did brilliantly. The game finished 4-1, with a header from Sebi Aykroyd-Duckett. As staff, we could not have been prouder of how they performed in the second half.

This marked the end of the tournament, with our players clapping the parents for their terrific support throughout the two days.

Monday

With the tournament over, we still had the morning before our flight to take in some tourist activities. Our brilliant rep for the whole trip, Manny, took us into Barcelona, around an hour’s drive from the complex.

We visited the Nou Camp first, with the lads heading to the club shop and returning with memorabilia. The stadium is still under construction, but the scale of one of the biggest clubs in the world was mesmerising.

Next, we visited the Sagrada Familia – the world’s largest church – with its outstanding architecture still under construction after many years. We finished the trip by visiting the stadium used for the 1992 Olympics, which FC Barcelona also used while their stadium was under renovation.

Overall, it was a day filled with memories for a lifetime.

Final thoughts

Reflecting further on the weekend, Liam added:

“This was the first time we have taken a group abroad post-Covid and is something we want to do with many other groups moving forward. The UK is the only country that splits school years differently, running September–August rather than January–January. This meant we had a mixed group of U13s and U14s who had limited time playing and socialising together.

“The biggest positive for me was how much the players mixed between the groups. I believe the tournament created friendships that may not have formed otherwise, which makes the trip truly worthwhile.

“Another challenge was playing 11v11, as some of the U13s have limited exposure due to our 9v9 format. However, they rose to the challenge and every one of them was excellent.

“Overall, as a club we are incredibly proud of how the players performed both on and off the pitch, and most importantly, we are delighted to have created memories that will last forever.”