Academy players at Bury, Crewe Alexandra, Millwall and Wolverhampton Wanderers will head out to The Netherlands on Monday as part of a pre-season trip organised by League Football Education.
The quartet will also be joined by fellow Football League clubs, Derby County, Carlisle United, Middlesbrough and Rochdale.
The trip concludes on 8 August by which time over one-hundred and thirty youth players from English clubs will have furthered their preparations for the new season by pitting their skills and wits against their peers from top Dutch clubs.
The initiative which is fully subsidised by the Erasmus+ fund to promote development and the exchange of ideas between coaches and players in both countries will see Bury and Middlesbrough travel to VVV Venlo close to Eindhoven, on the Dutch-German border.
Crewe and Derby will be based at ADO Den Haag in The Hague, while Den Bosch, the club where it all began for the former Manchester United and Real Madrid goal-machine Ruud van Nistelrooy, will welcome Rochdale and Wolves. NAC Breda play host to Under-18 players from Carlisle and Millwall.
As part of their Dutch experience, which has been designed to broaden personal and professional horizons via a range of cultural activities, including a trip to Amsterdam, the clubs will face testing fixtures against the likes of Eredivisie giants, PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord and FC Twente.
Dan Jolley, Projects Manager at LFE, said: “This initiative meets the cultural and sporting aims aligned to Erasmus+ while providing over one-hundred and thirty players with the chance to sample life, training and work in another European nation.
“Many of them will experience playing against continental opposition for the first time. Learning about different styles of play, coaching and tactics can only help them become better players.”
