Manchester City Council relishing Youth Touch World Cup

Manchester City Council is looking forward to welcoming the world’s best young Touch players to the city in 2021.

It was confirmed by the Federation of International Touch earlier this week that Manchester will be the next host city of the Youth Touch World Cup in July 2021.

Nations from across the world will be sending boys, girls and mixed teams in the Under-20 and Under-18 age categories to the north-west, with an expected number of teams in excess of 50 coming from as far afield as Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, the USA and across Europe.

Australia is the current world champion nation, with England the reigning European Junior Touch Championship champions.

The north-west is also a hub for youth Touch, with clubs such as Crewe and Nantwich and Chester having developed an outstanding reputation for bringing through some of the best young players in the country.

Manchester City Council's Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure, Councillor Luthfur Rahman, said: “We're honoured that our strong partnership with England Touch has resulted in the Youth World Cup coming to Manchester, as the latest in a string of international tournaments to be played in our world-class sporting city. 

“This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase Touch to schools and communities, as part of our commitment to ensure the widest possible access to sport and leisure activities right across the city.”

Youth Touch is developing rapidly worldwide. The 2018 Youth World Cup saw nine nations send a combined 28 teams to Putrajaya, Malaysia, predominantly from Asia and the South Pacific.

Meanwhile in Europe nine nations were represented at the 2019 Junior Touch Championships in Paris, where England achieved an unprecedented clean sweep of all four categories with an unbeaten 29 matches in all categories (27 wins, 2 draws).

England Touch Chair Mark Croston says that with the support of Manchester City Council the sport can be even more entrenched in what is already a strong area of the country.

“We're looking forward to working closely with Manchester City Council in the build-up to the Youth Touch World Cup,” he added. “Youth Touch is developing quickly in the north west and we're confident that by using that experience and the impetus provided by the World Cup we can expand our legacy for years to come.”