Apollo Tyres and Manchester United host Soccer School to empower local youth in Koblenz

Apollo Tyres Ltd, through its Vredestein premium tyre brand, hosted a ‘Soccer School’ event in Koblenz on 26 April in collaboration with Manchester United to support youth talent development, social inclusion and community engagement.  

The event, held in association with Fußballverband Rheinland, the region’s governing body for football, welcomed 32 children from underprivileged backgrounds to participate in an exclusive coaching session led by Manchester United legend Andy Cole and the club’s official training staff. 

Designed to inspire the next generation of football talent in the area, the session took place at Sportplatz FC Horchheim, home of FC 1911 Horchheim, a local football club competing in the Kreisliga B6 Koblenz. Participants enjoyed the opportunity to train on the same synthetic turf pitch used by the club’s senior team, experiencing professional-level coaching in a supporting and inclusive environment. 

This marks the tenth Soccer School hosted by Apollo Tyres and Manchester United, and the second in partnership with Fußballverband Rheinland. Since its inception in 1999, the Manchester United Soccer Schools initiative has reached over 500,000 participants across 90 countries, delivering football programmes that promote skill development, teamwork and personal growth. 

Headquartered in Koblenz, near Apollo Tyres’ office in Vallendar, Fußballverband Rheinland oversees amateur and grassroots football across the northern part of Rhineland-Palatinate, including regions such as the Eifel, Westerwald and Moselle Valley. As part of the German Football Association (DFB), the organisation represents over 1,000 clubs and 170,000 members, and coordinates more than 3,500 teams across various leagues and age groups. 

“The entire Apollo Tyres team is proud to be part of this initiative and is excited to contribute to creating positive change in the lives of young people,” says Alexandra Matuko, Head of Cluster Central Europe at Apollo Tyres Ltd. “It is particularly important to us to support socially disadvantaged children and to give them valuable experiences that foster team spirit, strengthen their personal development and build their self-confidence for the long term.” 

Apollo Tyres has been the official Global Tyre Partner of Manchester United since 2018. In 2020, the partnership expanded to include the company’s premium Vredestein tyre brand, which is now prominently features on pitch-side advertising boards as Manchester United home matches.