MCFC VIP PEOPLE

Everyone craves greatness. Everybody likes a winner.

But success isn't a one-man show.

Order! Order!

Behind every star is a team, immensely talented,

powerful in their own worlds, but invisible to us...

until now.

These are the stories of the stars and the teams who strive

to make them shine.

This is the world of the VIP People.

Ever wondered what it takes to make it

at the very highest level of football?

Well, you're about to find out.

The Premier League Champions Manchester City

have let us go behind the scenes of their football academy.

We'll be going behind closed doors to see City's VIP People

producing the next batch of Premier League Champions.

Tucked in to the side streets behind Manchester's Curry Mile,

Man City's academy started up in 1998

with the goal of finding and training players of the future.

Here, a select band of boys between the ages of eight and eighteen

are taught how to play footie - the City way.

You've got to be better without the ball.

And now Man City are Premier League Champions,

there's a new standard to aim for.

To win, to win it again, and win it again.

About to dive into this mix will be Manchester lad Billy O'Brien.

We'll be following the efforts of Billy and his VIP People

as he tries to make it as a goalie at Man City.

Billy's battle to make it at Manchester City has only just begun.

As well as hard graft, he'll need the help of all his VIP People

from the goal-keeping coach,

performance analysis and sports science teams,

to his team-mates, and even the Man City driver.

It's only with the 100% support of all these guys

that he can hope to succeed at the Premiership Champions.

Billy's long term goal is to be City's first-team keeper.

If I want to be on that bus, I just have to work my hardest,

and hope I get my chance and take it, really.

First he has to become first pick in the under-18 team.

But there are other goalies fighting for the same spot

THEY ARGUE

But Billy's got heart, he's got spirit.

Will that be enough to win a place in the team

and maybe one day to lift this trophy as a winner?

I hope to be there one day.

16-year-old Manchester lad Billy O'Brien

has just finished his last GCSE.

'I'm finally leaving school.'

I can now do what I want to do, and not what I HAVE to do.

He's walking home from school for the last time.

-All right, Ma?

-All right, baby.

Billy's ma has been supporting his dream since City's talent scouts

discovered him playing footy in his own backyard.

That's where the local team would play, Billy's team.

It was there he was playing when he was spotted by the City scout.

A scout is someone who finds good football players for the club.

And that's just one of the jobs, Billy Hughes,

the first of City's VIP People does for the academy.

He ain't no good!

Billy's employed by Man City to ferry the football players around,

but he also spots new talent and without the likes of Billy Hughes,

OUR Billy might never have set foot in the academy.

A keen footballer himself, Billy works with local youth groups

and has developed an ability to spot boys with the skills City want.

You're right, I'm not just a driver!

I know what I'm talking about and what I'm looking for, for the club.

They're going to start at the top

so we've got to do the groundwork, grassroots level.

But now City are champions, his job just got a lot harder.

Instead of looking for quantity, we're looking for quality.

We've got to try and produce talented players

where you're not spending money going abroad all be time.

But today he's got his driving hat on

and Billy drops OUR Billy off for training.

There's about 140 boys training at the academy.

It looks decent. Look around the place.

All right? This is our kit room.

Like many boys, Billy joined when he was eight.

This is our gym.

Where others have been let go, Billy survived and is now just

two squads below the first team.

This is Billy's last training session as a schoolboy.

Just roll it next to this. Billy, you're in first. Show time!

He'll be training with the next of our VIP People -

lead goal-keeping coach, Roy Tunks.

Roy looks after and oversees all of the under-18s keepers

on City's books, including Billy, and he's helped him

to progress from schoolboy level and into the under-18s team.

What Roy says goes.

Roy played around 800 league and cup games in a 24-year playing career.

As a coach he's trained Premiership keepers,

Tim Flowers, Brad Friedel, and Shay Given.

It's a wonderful, wonderful life. I've been lucky.

I've done nothing since I left school

except be involved in football and I recommend everyone,

if they've got the opportunity, to have a real good go at it.

He's been at City for 18 months, training 50 to 60 players,

but the challenge for Roy is turning schoolboys like Billy

into keepers who meet the club's ever-increasing standards.

You've got to pitch at a level that they will see success with.

The idea is to move your hand so you hit the right angle all the time.

And they have to see that you're pleased with them,

but they also have to recognise when you're not.

Go! Good. Take that new angle, Bill.

We set them challenges at early ages

to be the best goalkeeper in that session.

Just drop back for me. Good.

Let him get there and settle.

That's good, Billy. That's it.

That's a great save, by the way.

Roy seems pleased with Billy's focus.

Don't let yourself down now. It could be the 89th minute.

But when Billy gets annoyed at himself for missing a save...

-Language!

-..Roy has to use his experience to calm him down.

You're all right, you'll live.

The ball smashed me right in the face so I got a bit frustrated.

It's important for Billy's career that he improves his composure...

Good attitude, well done.

..but its also important for Roy's career that HE improves Billy.

What I liked about that is you got straight back onto it.

Billy needs to improve in every department to get to the next stage.

The next stage that he's looking to play at, every department

that he's working on at the moment is better than his.

To help Billy improve, Roy takes him to see the technology wiz kids

in City's Performance Analysis department.

This is our room. These are the cameras we use to film the games.

That's good.

Aaron and Andy are in a team who film all the academy team matches

and by studying this footage, both the outfield players,

Billy, and the other goalkeepers are able to improve their performances.

Aaron and Andy studied sports coaching at uni

where they discovered the hi-tech world of performance analysis.

They use their knowledge to keep records of every time

any player touches the ball.

When Billy kicks a ball out, we press G and that goes into a video.

Every time he tries to save the ball,

we press H and that goes into another video.

These records are then turned into

Billy's personal compilation of his match performance.

Seeing yourself is one of the main ways of learning

so we speed up their learning process, hopefully,

-to become a better footballer quicker.

-Give me two options.

Yes, there's one. Yes.

So you just throw the ball over.

The thing I love about my job

is when you work with a player one-on-one

and you can see the player that you picked up six weeks ago

and through the coaching and the different departments,

they do become better as a player and a person.

It's the start of the new season.

And in order to be closer to training and his team-mates

Billy's moving out Mum's house and across Manchester into club digs.

There's just enough time to give his mum an internet lesson.

-What's the Skype logo?

-It's just an S in blue.

It won't be the same, not having him here.

The City boys are here to take my son away!

It's time to say goodbye.

Billy! Be good.

# You turned out the lights now I'm paralysed

# Still stuck in that time when we called it love. #

-Left at the landing.

-As Billy moves into his new digs

with Man City house parent Paul Priest,

he comes face-to-face with his first challenge.

I've been told it's a shoe thing, but I do not...

I don't know why you do this. Is that right?

Paul is a mad City fan

who's been on the club's payroll as a house parent for 11 years.

He's helped many lads get to grips with the shoe thing,

including first-team player Micah Richards.

Micah was with us for nearly five years. He came as a 14-year-old.

I've lived the dream with Micah.

My sons say, "Is Micah still your favourite?"

Obviously.

Oh, now we're talking.

I think that's right.

Billy, are you up?

Four weeks after leaving school,

Billy's starting as a full-time goalie.

To get him in the mood,

Paul re-enacts City's league-winning moment.

-Aguero-o-o-o!

-BILLY LAUGHS

-It's the last-minute goal we scored against...

-Won the League.

When we won the League. Bigging it up.

Everyone's buzzing to be back full-time at the academy.

It's time to catch up with old friends...

-Here he is, here he is!

-..and for rivalries to renew.

Every time he's around, every time he's sat in the background.

Welcome to the gym.

City recently bought goalkeeper Angus Gunn from Norwich

-for a quarter of a million pounds.

-The worst guy at the club.

While Gunny and keepers like him are Billy's team-mates,

they're all battling for just one spot, and it's this positive rivalry

that keeps them all at the top of their game.

Come on! Let's go! Come on.

To reach his goal of being first-pick keeper,

-Billy will have to overtake Angus.

-I want you to push him.

I want you to keep checking over your shoulder that he's behind me.

Billy was fully aware that a club like Manchester City

were always looking to improve.

And the club went out and acquired Angus Gunn.

Billy has risen to the challenge, he's accepted the challenge.

You love me really.

-Nah.

-You do!

Come on, Bill! You're late, mate.

Billy, you should be ready.

For the next few days, Billy's time is split between Roy

and the next of our VIP people,

Al Stewart from the Sport Science Team.

Working closely with all the back-room staff,

including goal-keeping coach Roy, Al works with colleagues

Nathan and Matt from Sport Science

to assess and improve the fitness of all the players,

including goalies like Billy.

Three, two, one. Jump.

Come on!

Well done.

To work in the Sport Science department here,

you need to have a passion for it.

You need to really care about improving people's performance.

Don't let your knees touch my hand.

'Through that, you have to study to the level'

that you understand how the body works.

Lunge, twist, haunch stretch.

It's the job of Matt, Nathan and Al

to make Billy move quicker and jump higher.

Come on, quicker. Quicker in-between.

One way to do this is by controlling Billy's diet.

-It's too hard.

-Billy needs to lose his body fat.

As a keeper, he needs to reduce that unnecessary weight.

It's going to mean he can't jump as high, move as fast.

Al even organises cooking demos with TV chef Simon Rimmer

so house parents feed their kids healthy grub.

What they take into their body massively affects their performance

and this is really a way of showing them, "You know what?

"It doesn't have to be difficult."

If Al and his team can't keep the boys off the sweets and burgers,

the academy could fail in its goal of producing players

who can win the Premier League.

Pretty soon, Roy will be telling team coaches

which keepers are in form.

With Billy's rivals Liam and Angus showing solid form,

it's time for Bill to come up with something special.

Just get that timing right.

In this session, Roy wants to see clean handling under pressure.

We call it one touch, so it's...

That's all we can hear. But sometimes you can hear a...

It's bouncing around a bit. That's when the timing's off a little.

Let's go, Bill. Nice and clean with every one, if you can.

That's a good start.

Now he's gone! He's set the standard. Can he keep it up?

He's going to have a good go! Well done. He's going for a full house.

Come on!

Can he get the full house?

Yes, he can so far.

Yes! Come on, let's go.

Come on, last one! Is he going to get it?

Yes!

It's a massive display from Billy in front of all his rivals.

But as Billy leaves, Roy sets him another challenge.

Take it out there. Don't leave it in here. Take it to the arena.

So here's the story so far. Lifelong Man City fan Billy O'Brien

wants to be first-pick goalie in Man City's under-18 team,

but so do his rivals Liam and Angus.

City's Sport Science Team are busy keeping Bill fit,

the Performance Analysis Team are improving his awareness,

and coach Roy is pushing him in training.

Still to come, City use hi-tech gadgets to make Bill jump higher

and with match day coming up, will Bill get picked for the team?

It's a rainy summer evening

at the home ground of Premier League Champions Manchester City.

While Roberto Mancini's first team are away on tour,

Billy and the next generation of City stars arrive

to sign their contracts for the club.

It feels like you're actually becoming a footballer,

so it is, it's a big night.

Billy's ma!

Missed you.

The Premier League trophy's on display

and Billy gets to lift it.

-Bit of weight in it.

-You'll have to get used to it, mate.

'If I was really lifting the trophy in the Premier League'

it'd be the proudest moment of my life by far, but I'd just go wild!

The head of the academy Mark Allen

tells the boys what the club expects.

We've got to keep winning that. You're only going to win that

if your focus and your desire

and your goal is about one thing, football.

'This is a history-making group'

inasmuch that they're the first scholar group

that'll sign when we've been Premier League champion,

so that's something they'll always remember.

Signing his name here means he's registered

as a Premier League player and gets an allowance from Man City.

Now there are only six keepers between Billy and Joe Hart.

Now we're starting, Billy. All the way.

Feet, feet, feet there. Good.

Let's go. There, there, there. Set.

Feet. Take that big stride.

Let's go, right across.

There. Better.

The day after the signing,

the pace of the training is stepped up.

BILLY PANTS

And there's another incentive to perform.

OK, lads, it's 10am. We should be going. Let's go, move.

There's a match with the under-21 team at Carrington.

Carrington is our first-team training centre.

So we're just getting the lads organised now, so we've got to go.

Billy will be playing a match

at the same ground as the champions of England.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Get there.

Can Billy take his form in training into the big arena?

Change. Well done, Billy.

He set the standard.

If he succeeds here,

he could make a giant leap towards getting picked for the team

but he has to cope with the bigger, faster

and more experienced under-21 team.

Everything will be quicker,

everything will be stronger pace

and more will be expected of him.

Billy, don't be frightened of helping them push them up.

-Billy makes a good start and is dominating his box.

-Well done.

But then in the second half, his positioning lets him down.

He might have moved his feet a bit better

but they'll pick the spot at this level.

Billy takes the disappointment in his stride.

Once it's gone, it's gone. You're not going to change it

so there's no point thinking about it. It'll just mess your head up.

Once something happens, you forget it and concentrate on the next one.

But before the day's out,

there's one more thing the goalies have to do.

Being a ball boy.

Being an absolute ball boy.

I'll have a quick look at you.

After the disappointment at Carrington,

Billy's in physio for running repairs.

And breathe all the way out.

Out, out, out, out, out...

The main thing we keep an eye on with Billy is his awful haircuts.

You've had some awful haircuts, haven't you?

A normally chipper Billy is looking a bit downbeat.

Cheers, Dave. 'It's coming to the end of the week, the second weekend now.'

I'm tired mentally, really,

and physically.

Billy's been down before. City took their time to give him a scholarship

as they wanted to be sure it was right for him.

Billy draws on his memories of that time to stay focused on his goal.

'Now I know what it feels like to nearly get a no,

and that's too much itself to handle.

It does make you want to work harder and do everything you do perfectly.

With pre-season matches due to start,

can Billy pick himself up and do enough to get picked?

The Sports Science Team are Matt, Al and Nathan

and another of their key aims

is to help players like Billy avoid injuries.

They do this by controlling how hard players train.

You'll see all the players wearing this. It's got one of these in it.

Head of Sport Science Matt Cooke uses global positioning satellites

to keep records of every move the players make.

For every time you move, this records it.

Get up!

As Roy pushes Billy to work harder,

every jump, every impact, every step Billy takes

is beamed up to a satellite in the sky, and back to Matt's office.

Just got the results up of the GPS vest Billy was wearing.

-Let's go!

-We've nearly three miles, which is a lot for a goalkeeper.

I spoke to Roy this morning. He took that information

and said today's session has to be a lot lighter.

For Billy, a lighter training session

means a visit to Matt's colleague Al...

Quick as we can, quick as we can.

..who wants to analyse the way Billy jumps.

-Hiding?

-Al.

-Jump test, Bill.

As the players line up and jump...

..Al records the jumps

using a camera that plays back in slow motion.

What we're looking at is a counter-movement jump.

When Al watches the jumps back,

he can spot tiny things that Billy needs to work on.

As he drops down into the squat here,

we'll see, you'll notice round about now,

there is a little rolling of both his knees just there.

The problem with the knees rolling in is it's a lack of strength

through his backside muscles, his glutes, we call them.

A couple of things happened.

One, he can't produce enough force to jump high

and two, it just increases risk of injury.

This is something Bill has to work really hard on as a goalkeeper

if he wants to make it.

With the clock ticking to team selection,

Al's discovery about Billy's glutes

is passed on to his colleague Nathan Bullock...

-Nathan!

-Afternoon, Billy.

..who designs an exercise to help Billy jump higher.

So this exercise here is going to work on glutes.

It works the muscle as it lengthens out.

Oof! Looks painful, doesn't it?

Good. That's it. That's loads better.

If this isn't hard enough,

Nathan reminds Billy he's got to do his chin-ups.

No pressure. How many do you reckon you could do? How many sets?

-Three. Definitely three.

-All on your own?

Joe Hart would be able to do four sets.

No pressure, then, Bill. Let's see what you've got.

-One set.

-Time to go again.

Two sets.

Under pressure.

Three sets.

Are you watching, Joe Hart?

-This is the sound that he dreads.

-WATCH BEEPS

-Come on, Bill. Final set!

-Arms straight.

Three and a half...

Any advance on three and a half?

Come on. Come on.

Ooh! Three and a half sets.

That's it, Bill. You're not getting picked.

Well, actually, Bill HAS been picked.

Thanks to the VIP people at Man City's Academy -

the coach Roy,

the Performance Analysis Team and the Sport Science Team

all succeeding in doing their jobs,

Billy's become a better goalie

and now he's been picked for an important game against Colwyn Bay.

It's Billy's chance to claim his place as first-pick goalie.

This is a great day for Billy.

He's shown plenty of determination and grit, and real character

to be able to take some of the setbacks he's had,

bounce back from them

and now he's on the verge of breaking into one of our teams.

Colwyn Bay play five divisions down from the Premiership

in the Northern Conference League,

but their team of grown men includes some tough players

and former Premiership stars.

With a big crowd out to celebrate the opening of their new stand,

Colwyn Bay will want to give their fans something to cheer about.

To win here, Billy and the under-18s

will have to punch way above their weight.

It's time for Billy to do the business where it counts.

Colwyn Bay set their stall out early doors with some physical play...

..which gets them an early goal.

-CHEERING

-Come on!

Then a few minutes later, they get another one.

Ooh, Billy!

Is this going to be an embarrassment for Billy and City?

Staying true to his training,

Billy quickly puts that blunder behind him.

Billy's expecting the hairdryer treatment at half time,

but team coach Scott Sellars

uses his coaching skills to fire the lads up for a fight back.

I want to see you have a go

because you haven't laid a glove on them for 45 minutes.

You made it easy for them. Most of all, move the ball quicker.

They come out meaning business...

WHISTLE BLOWS

..but then get off to the worst possible start.

Three-nil, Colwyn Bay.

But with a three-goal lead,

Colwyn Bay fall asleep

and City's twinkle-toed teens pull it back to three-all.

CHEERING

The next team to score could win the match.

With minutes left, Colwyn Bay win a corner.

If they score now, all of City's hard work will be for nothing.

But they don't.

And then, City get a penalty.

It's this goal to win the match.

CHEERING

Its an incredible comeback from City and a strong performance from Bill.

If you work hard, you'll achieve things in life.

If you want to come out and just play football,

this is a business, a competitive business.

He's after your shirt, you're after his shirt.

The ones who want it the most will have that bit about them,

a bit of that, and a bit of that

to say, "I know what it's about, we'll be successful."

Without all the coaches we have in every department,

not one of us would be the player we are.

Thanks to Man City's VIP people,

Billy has now taken the first step to achieving his dream

and making it as a pro footballer.

Yeah, are we done?

We done?

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd