Hartpury hosts football study visit from Holland

Gloucester City’s under 13s entertained V.V. Nunspeet in a friendly football match at Hartpury College recently.

The Dutch team were on a student exchange visit to the College for four days which included football and other activities, finishing with a visit to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium before travelling home. V. V. Nunspeet has developed a link with Hartpury College following successful study trips to the College in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The match was played on a very warm and sunny morning so much credit to both teams for showing excellent fitness and stamina to last the pace, especially considering the Gloucester City youngsters had not played for over a month and the V. V. Nunspeet players had arrived at Hartpury at one o’clock in the morning, nine hours prior to kick-off.

The game itself was played in an excellent spirit, refereed by former Hartpury College student Tyler Davies, and finished in a competitive 3-3 draw with Gloucester’s goals coming from Luke Soule (2) and Aaron Mason. The Gloucester team can be very proud of a confident display of passing football which will build confidence looking ahead to the new season.

Gloucester City FC would like to thank all the staff at Hartpury College for arranging the game and the players, coaches and parents from Nunspeet for a very enjoyable game of football. It is hoped the Gloucester lads can visit Holland next year for a return fixture at the end of the season.