Celtic Soccer Academy is delighted to announce that they have added Albury Hotspurs Soccer Club to their ever growing International Club Partnership Programme. This long term partnership with Albury Hotspurs will involve the sharing of club methodologies, coach education, coaching camps and it will also present Hotspurs with the opportunity to visit Glasgow, Scotland to experience what life is like for an academy player at Celtic Football Club. Albury Hotspurs will also have the chance to send their coaches to Celtic Football Club to attend the renowned International Coaches Convention in Glasgow and receive a behind the scenes look at how Celtic develops young players to reach their potential.
Albury Hotspurs Soccer Club boasts an impressive membership of over 340 members and their hard work and dedication within the area of Albury/Wodonga was a major factor in the Celtic Soccer Academy choosing them as their newest club partner.
President of Albury Hotspurs, Brad Howard said that “This is a very exciting time for our club and also the region. We have been so impressed at what our partnership with the Celtic Football Club will offer our players and coaches.” Hotspurs intends on bringing coaches from Glasgow for the school holidays starting in Easter, “This will provide a great opportunity for the regions footballers from the age of 8-16 to be trained by Celtic International academy coaches at camps to be held twice a year during the school holidays.”
Celtic Soccer Academy Manager John McStay added: ‘We are delighted to add Albury Hotspurs to our International Club Partnership Programme and it again emphasises our commitment to building relationships across the globe. Albury Hotspurs is a very ambitious and progressive club and we are looking forward to a long and prosperous partnership with them.
About Celtic Football Club
GLASGOW
GV of Celtic Park
Celtic Football Club is one of the biggest and best-supported teams in the world. Wearing their iconic green and white hoops, Celtic are instantly recognisable when they play and are renowned for playing attractive football, their passionate fans and their many successes on the field of play.
CELTIC PARK – GLASGOW
A general view of Celtic Park.
They are currently champions of Scotland and regularly compete in the UEFA Champions League, where they recorded one of their most famous victories by defeating FC Barcelona 2-1 at Celtic Park in 2012. Celtic are previous winners of the competition when in 1967 they became the first British team to be crowned Champions of Europe.
Founded in 1887, the club was formed as a means to alleviate poverty in the East End of Glasgow. The club now boasts 52,000 season ticket holders and millions of fans worldwide. Its stadium, which is also known as “Paradise”, has a capacity of 60,506, making it the third largest club stadium in the UK. The club remains true to its charitable roots via the outstanding work of the Celtic FC Foundation which aids local charities and global appeals.
Through the Celtic Soccer Academy the club has many official partner clubs across the globe, taking the ethos of talent development, fair play and social interaction through sport into many communities worldwide, teaching kids how to play “The Celtic Way”.
www.celticfc.net
CELTIC PARK – GLASGOW
The Celtic squad huddle ahead of kick-off
About Albury Hotspurs Soccer Club
Albury Hotspurs Soccer Club was founded in 1973 and is one of the foundation clubs of what is now known as the Albury-Wodonga Football Association. When Bill Luders arrived in Albury in 1973 he was disappointed to find that his son couldn’t play soccer in a local competition. So he decided to provide an opportunity for locals to play the great game by gathering like-minded people and organising games for local youngsters. The group became the Albury/Wodonga Soccer Association and Bill became the inaugural President of Albury Hotspurs Soccer Club.
Albury Hotspurs was the first local club to create a female soccer team and have continued to support and encourage female participation in soccer ever since. In recent time appointing one of the first regional Female Liaison Officers to its committee.
Albury Hotspurs soccer club has since become one of the great sporting institutions in the region with the club boasting over 340 members in 2019 and possibly the largest junior soccer contingents in the competition.
Over the past 48 years Hotspurs has had thousands of men, women, boys and girls representing the Club and also representing various State and National teams. Amy Chapman began her soccer career at Albury Hotspurs and played for the Matildas, the Australian Womens national team from 2007 to 2013. And more recently Hotspurs junior Alec Mills playing for the U/18 Youth Socceroos squad in the AFF Championships in 2019.
From providing access to local soccer, to providing access to international soccer, Albury Hotspurs Soccer Club is proud of the opportunities it has afforded the Albury/Wodonga community.
