Huddersfield Town

German and Czech Republic for the Young Terriers

- Three European friendlies confirmed for the Young Terriers
- A Town Academy side will face Bayern Munich again
- Games against Czech sides Viktoria Plzeň and Sparta Prague confirmed

The Huddersfield Town Academy will travel to mainland Europe for a trio of high-quality pre-season fixtures in late July.

Academy Manager Leigh Bromby, alongside coach Mark Hudson, will take a selection of players from the new-look Academy age groups for a rematch with German giants Bayern Munich before a pair of games against top Czech sides Viktoria Plzeň and Sparta Prague.

The plan is for the Academy to be based in East Germany for a week, playing Bayern Munich in the first fixture on Saturday 28 July.

This will be the second game of 2018 against the German champions, with Hudson’s side recording a tremendous 2-1 victory in Bavaria in late March thanks to goals from Romoney Crichlow-Noble and Rekeil Pyke.

That fixture will be followed by two short trips to the Czech Republic to face a pair of the country’s leading teams.

The first fixture will put the Young Terriers against the Under-19 team of Viktoria Plzeň, whose senior team has just won the HET liga; the country’s top division. The Club’s junior side plays in the Juniorská liga, finishing seventh in 2017/18.

On Saturday 4 August, Town will face arguably the most famous Czech football team in Sparta Prague. At senior level, Sparta Prague has won its domestic title on 33 occasions and previously reached the European Cup semi-final, whilst its Under-19 side has just won its Juniorská liga group.

One of its well-known Academy graduates is former Arsenal midfielder Tomáš Rosický.

Huddersfield Town Academy Manager Leigh Bromby explained:

“The major appeal of this journey to mainland Europe is the quality of fixtures that are on offer for our Club’s young players.

“It goes without saying that Bayern Munich, Viktoria Plzeň and Sparta Prague are three high-class opponents and they will offer different challenges to our young footballers that they aren’t used to facing. The individual opponents and the ways that the teams play will be a real test for our team.

“That’s exactly what we want. We firmly believe that young players improve by being presented with challenges to overcome and they will certainly be tested in this week.

“We’ve already seen the benefits of the previous trips to Bayern Munich and the Champions Trophy in Düsseldorf – those trips offered us tremendous return on investment – and I’m now excited to see our young players in this environment.

“I’d like to thank the Board of Directors for its continuing support of the new-look Academy. As with every decision we are making, this spell away is part of our strategy to improve the quality of our Young Terriers in the long-run.”