Global Fútbol

Football clubs have a juggling act to perform in 2021, as it is essential that teams build alliances abroad to grow and, at the same time, they are expected to remain true to their roots and values. One club to have understood this balancing act perfectly is RC Celta from Vigo. The Galician club have won plaudits for their local ‘A Nosa Reconquista’ and ‘Afouteza’ marketing campaigns, while also overseeing international expansion through their Campus and International Schools project.

RC Celta boast several global schools for bringing their coaching methodology to youngsters around the world, with centres in Italy, Japan, USA, Ireland, Colombia, Romania, China, Panama and beyond. Now, RC Celta have launched three new football schools in Mexico for boys and girls, one in Anáhuac in Cancún, one in Polanco in Mexico City and another in Interlomas in Mexico City.

These follow the already established academy in the Mexican port city of Campeche, with RC Celta’s mission of bringing top-class football coaching to children around the world having started in Mexico in 2015.

“The main reason for creating the first centre was that the RC Celta president wanted the club to become better known outside of our borders and to have a recognisable style and philosophy,” the LaLiga Santander club explained. “That, combined with links to Mexico and a love for youth football, made Mexico the first country with a stable RC Celta presence. From then, and through the club’s foundation, the international growth has been quite considerable, especially in Mexico where we now have these three new academies to take the next step in a country with a significant youth football culture.”

Explaining what RC Celta can contribute to the communities they visit, the club continued: “We want to help and be part of the development of young players. There is no greater legacy than that. Opening academies abroad allows us to share our way of understanding sport and our methodology with whoever wishes to access it. We try to help in the development process, with players and with coaches. At the same time, this creates an attachment to our club and a recognition of our way of working.”

RC Celta already had many supporters in Mexico and have even had El Tri’s Néstor Araújo in their squad since 2018, yet the club’s Mexican fanbase is able to grow further thanks to the academies opened up around the country.

As the club explained: “Celta Vigo’s name is known in practically the whole world and that’s undoubtfully thanks to the first team and the academy work. The fact we’ve set up internationally in various countries means we’re recognised in places where we maybe weren’t as well-known as other LaLiga teams.”

Speaking about Mexico specifically, the club continued: “With Mexico, having our player Néstor Araújo has helped a lot and right now Mexico is one of the top three countries where we have the most fans and followers, with these three new academies now being opened. As well as all this, it’s logical that other lines of business open up, which helps with the club’s growth.”

RC Celta’s future academy plans

Already, RC Celta have academies across Europe and Asia, as well as in North, Central and South America. They have also recently launched some activities in Africa. For example, two of the club’s youth coaches offered their expertise to the ‘You are the Star’ reality TV show in Egypt, helping to select promising footballing talents and inviting some of these rising stars to Vigo to train.

That just leaves Oceania as the only continent where RC Celta have yet to start up a football programme, so this remains a goal for those in charge at the club and its foundation. Furthermore, RC Celta would like to grow further in Europe and in the USA, adding to the existing academies there. There are also plans for an academy to open in India, with this project having been postponed from its March 2020 inauguration date due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The club’s international expansion project is an ambitious one and more academy openings are set to follow the three new schools in Mexico. “We think that travelling to other countries, bringing our Afouteza spirit, creating a sense of belonging and sharing our values and methodology is the best legacy possible,” the club concluded.