Football Trip to Manchester
On Friday 3rd March 2017, 29 pupils from Year 8 to Year 11 and three teachers (Mr Parks, Mr Baines and Miss Young), gathered at Markethill High School at the early time of 5 a.m. to make the journey to Dublin Port. For some pupils, this was their first trip away with Markethill High School. After a 3 ½ hour sailing, bouncing through the waves of the Irish Sea and enjoying many of the facilities on board, we were all glad to be back on dry land at Holyhead. We boarded the coach and continued on with the next stage of our journey. We proceeded directly to Old Trafford in Manchester to take part in an educational tour of the world famous Manchester United Football stadium and museum. As well as viewing the many trophies, visiting the changing rooms and walking pitch side, we attended a workshop where we were told the importance of finance, marketing and IT to their organisation. We also got to spend some free time in the Megastore buying some memorabilia. In the evening, we all travelled into Manchester for tea and bowling.
Day 2 - After breakfast, we travelled back to Old Trafford to watch the match. We were extremely lucky to get seats in the famous ‘Stretford End’; this is where the most loyal and vocal Manchester United fans support their team. We had a spectacular view of the pitch from our well placed seats. The kick off whistle blew at 12.30 where players from Manchester United and Bournemouth battled on the pitch for a very quick 90 minutes. Due to the outstanding performance of the players, there was a lot of chanting and cheering. This resulted in a few of us losing our voices. After a very exciting game it ended with a 1-1 draw. The players showed a very friendly sportsmanship to each other, one which we could all learn from when participating in all sports. A few of the other boys and I managed to get on Manchester United TV, which we were all very happy about, as this made our day knowing that we were going to be ‘famous.’
After the game, the group visited the Imperial War Museum to view the exhibitions covering real life stories of conflict from WW1 to the present day. This was very interesting and educational as we learned a lot about different vehicles, rations and wartime traditions. We also got to admire the marvellous military memorabilia collected throughout the years of conflict. This was one of my favourite activities as I got to spend a long time in the museum looking and reading about historical events. After this, we went to the Trafford Centre, were we had tea and then spent lots of money in the shops. This taught me how to budget my money and spend it wisely.
On our final day, after breakfast, we departed the hotel to commence our homeward journey. We stopped in a village in Wales called ‘Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllanttysiliogogogoch’ for lunch (now aren’t you glad you don’t have to learn how to spell this!) This school trip was very enjoyable, educational and exciting. The teachers and the other pupils made this a very fun trip and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Ross Gracey (10TH)
