This month the Crystal Palace Academy has followed in the footsteps of the first team by travelling abroad for their pre-season preparations.

David Moss, the Crystal Palace Academy Manager, and Gary Issott, Under 18s Coach, took a select group of Under 17 players to Sweden to participate in the Gothia Cup (you can find out more about the cup at the bottom of the page).

The Palace team was entered into a group of four teams: AIK FF, BK Häcken and Mjällby AIF - all of whom are from Sweden. They play eachother to earn qualification through to the next round, with the top two going through. 

Report by David Moss

This tournament has historically always been for amateur teams, but this year they wanted to set up a B-17 league for professional teams that are under 17s. 

We were invited, Wolves are here and so are Doncaster Rovers. The organisation has been fantastic, the hotel has been very good and the food has been nice so it's a great experience for the boys.

But the most important thing has been to get the players physically fit for the start of the season, which starts on the 22nd of August against Derby County at home.

We have also added a lot of new players to our academy and they will all be playing together for the first time so we are also using this as a team bonding exercise.

We are able to get the players are away for nine days where they live together, play and train together and it is the same for the staff, so it is great for the whole Academy because every one is together for a good length of time to get to know one another.

During that time we have been able to put lots of things in place. We now have a really good frame work of how we want the team to play, with practical work for both attacking and defending also organised. 

That is the purpose of the trip to the Gothia cup. It's the biggest tournament in the world at this level and it has far exceeded my expectations of how good it is and I've been on lots of previous trips.

This one is fantastic. It's got 1600 teams here, both amateur and professional. I went to the opening ceremony where there was about 16 nations and 50,000 people attending.

There was also a coaches evening where there was 3000 coaches all together and the organisation was again second to none. It's been done so professionally.

Leading onto the games, we have had great preparation for our training. We have got three coaches out here, a fitness coach, the physio, our education and welfare office and the kit man.

Everything for the players is geared towards making things as professional as possible for them, so that they can go out and focus on giving their best and that's what we expect from them.

The first game was against Mjallby AIF who we drew against 2-2. We had a very bad start to the game by going 2-0 down in the first eight minutes, but the boys composed themselves and got back into the game.

They never panicked. They kept passing the ball, doing what we asked them to do and we scored two good goals to level the game.

Then the boys put in an outstanding performance in our next game against BK Haken and we won 3-1.

We gave a silly goal away when we went a goal down in the first 10 minutes but some of the football we played was excellent.

The passing and the movement was superb all over the pitch. When we didn't have the ball we were very well organised and we won the ball back very quickly so that we could re-group and start playing some good football again.

The following game we knew we had to win. To win the group we had to beat IIK Stocko, who had won the first two games, whereas we only had four points, so we needed to win.

The game was actually broadcast live on Swedish TV. Unfortunately we couldn't build on the last performance.

We started the game pretty well and it looked like we were in control of the game, until the second half where, for what ever reason, the team played as individuals, and when you play as individuals it is not as effective as playing as a team.

Then one poor defensive error five minutes towards the end of the game led to us conceding a goal from outside the box. It was very disappointing that we lost the game 1-0.

Crystal Palace have qualified for the B Play Offs and have lost their first game 5-4 to Gefle IF. They now face Hradec Králové on Friday night.

For all the fixtures and results of the Gothia Cup click here.

It's no exaggeration to say that the Gothia Cup is the most appreciated and well known youth soccer tournament in the world. Certainly even the most popular. Throughout the years 800,000 youths from over 127 different countries have par ticipated in the Gothia Cup. More than 1,500 teams partake yearly. Obviously these are staggering numbers, but perhaps we are proud of something more that cannot be expressed in numbers. The fact that we are able to retain and develop the basic principle of the Gothia Cup; the idea that through soccer as a common denominator, we gather the youth of the world to create a meeting ground. A ground that gives hope for a better future. Welcome all!

Who may participate

All clubs, which are members of their FIFA affiliated national associations, are welcome toparticipate in the Gothia Cup. The tournament begins with group play. Teams are divided into groups of four or five, where all teams are playing each other once. The first and second team in the group qualify for "Play-off A", the other teams in the group for "Play-off B". The tournament is played under all applicable FIFA or Swedish FA rules. All players must be insured, both for games
and leisure time. Arrival for all teams is on Sunday July 12. Kick-off for the preliminary round games is on Monday July 13.