Day 2: from English Premier League games, to top quality training, to disappointed shopaholics – today was a full one. We were busy from dawn until dusk. The entire squad was chipper as can be when we woke up at 7am. We grabbed a bite to eat and jumped on the Metro to Newcastle United Academy for our first training session of the trip. We got a tour of the facilities and hit the pitch to warm up and get our legs underneath of us ahead of our game vs Blyth tomorrow afternoon. The staff at Newcastle United Academy were fantastic and English soccer sensation Peter Beardsley even came out to take part in our session. We were lucky enough to be dropped back off at the Metro station in Audis, Mercedes and BMWs. Needless to say we have been quite impressed with the cars and road situations (no potholes!).

We walked back from the Metro to the hotel and got ready for a big afternoon! We traveled to Sunderland to the Stadium of Lights to watch Sunderland vs Southampton. It was an exciting match in an unreal atmosphere with over 40,000 in the crowd. Five rows from the pitch, we had a fantastic time and definitely had an afternoon to remember. Mad jealous of the grass fields.