''Football Mania'' () is a Chinese

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show where a number of budding amateur

footballers A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

from across China compete for places in a newly created team. Along the way, the team will play matches against a range of opponents from across China. Their journey will also be book-ended by matches against Manchester City's under-18s team, first playing them at City Football Academy in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in March before hosting them for the return leg in July. The show will also feature Chinese football icon and former

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

player Sun Jihai in a recurring role. Additionally, Manchester City will provide the team's head coach as well as their tactical direction. The show is broadcast on 30 platforms, both televisual and

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

, notably on

Guangdong TV Guangdong Television (GDTV; ) is a television station in Guangzhou, Guangdong province in China. Guangdong TV is the oldest television station in the province, which covers Guangdong and surrounding provinces. At present, Guangdong TV has a staff ...

as well as online via Tencent Sports.

References

{{Reflist Chinese television shows 2017 Chinese television series debuts Manchester City F.C.