Updated 26th May 2011

Following a trial at Middlesbrough Academy’s facility Emilio has received an email from them inviting him straight into the Middlesborough Academy once the pre-season starts for the 2011/12 season. He will beattending training 2 times a week at Middlesbrough academy and games on Sunday for a trial period. Emilio's father says "This is a  great opportunity for Emillio and one that we’re all excited about. I know he gets a lot of support from AGS, particularly Mr Fishburn, and it’s really appreciated" 

Yorkshire Evening post - 04/06/2011 - "League sides snap up Allerton pair" Click to view

Emilio represents the UK in a Global Football Tournament

Allerton Grange Year 10 student Emilio Oliver recently took part in the  Mediterranean International Cup (MIC). The MIC is one of the most prestigious youth football tournaments in the World, with over 200 teams and 40 countries represented, played on the Costa Brava, North East Coast of Spain. In this event the best clubs (Barcelona, Real Madrid) and National teams (Brazil, Mexico) of the World compete in the different age classes. The events main purpose is to give any young football player the opportunity to compete against the most famous clubs of the World. Since the tournament began it has been supported by famous football personalities such as Pep Guardiola, Luis Felipe Scolari, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

Emilio was fortunate enough to be selected to represent Elite DC’s UK team. Elite DC is a provider of Development Centres for professional clubs across the Country, including Barnsley FC, to which Emilio is attached.  Emilio, in addition to playing for the school, also plays for Leeds City Boys and North East Leeds FC (Sunday club). He attends Barnsley and Middlesboro’ development centres. Having one of our local lads involved in such a global tournament reflects well on the talent within the school and the Leeds Schools FA.

The tournament itself has played a key part in the development of some of the very best footballers in the world, for example Spanish world cup winners Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, Juan Mata and Gerard Pique played in the MIC, as well as the likes of Lionel Messi, Lucas Leiva, Anderson, Hatem Ben Arfa, Fabio and Rafael Da Silva and Giovani Dos Santos.

The opening match at the Palamos Stadium between the Brazil National Side and FC Palomas, not surprisingly saw Brazil winning without getting into 2^nd gear. In the afternoon Emilio’s team played their first group match against a local Spanish team (Sant Agassi) and drew 1-1. The next day’s game was against Nakid International (a Lebanese team). Elite FC (Emilio’s team) won 2-1 and also went on to win their next match easily with Emilio as captain for the game and seeing him score a hat trick. They ended up winning the group and were drawn against a Danish club, Hellerup, in the next round. At the end of normal time in the Hellerup game it was 1-1. There was a penalty shoot-out. Emilio went up third and got his. They had a penalty to win the game but agonisingly the shot hit the bar, they went on to lose the shoot-out 7-6 (like English teams always seem to do). They were obviously very disappointed as they thought they could have gone further, but they can be proud of their achievement. Established sides such as FC Porto, Real Madrid, and RCD Espanyol all went on to the semi-finals. The final was won by an excellent team from Africa called Aspire.

Mano Menezes, the Brazilian National Coach, was present watching the stars of the future, along with representatives from lots of big European clubs like Barcelona and  Inter Milan. Being called Emilio one of the Spanish sides were trying to claim him as one of their own, particularly as with his hair he looks like a younger version of Carles Puyol who won the World Cup with Spain last year! There were many nationalities in the hotel Emilio was staying in and some good-hearted rivalry between the teams. Emilio was taken aback by the size of the whole thing and how well it was organised (over 100 teams across 4 age groups, twenty or so grounds were used for the event and over a dozen hotels). The playing conditions were superb and the event was well run and managed. It certainly gave Emilio a taste of football at a whole new level and will undoubtedly motivate him to continue improving and working towards securing academy place.

More information can be found by visiting http://www.micfootball.com/en/home.html.

Updated 6th June 2011