PlayFootball, a leading operator of five-a-side football venues across the UK, has agreed a new partnership with Spain's La Manga Club resort that will see amateur footballers given the opportunity to enjoy the same facilities used by some of Europe's leading professional football clubs.

The new agreement provides official overseas resort partner status to La Manga Club and will see the resort's sports and leisure facilities promoted on several platforms to PlayFootball's extensive database of active footballers.

The partnership also sees the creation of a new five-a-side football event - the La Manga Club Sunshine Cup - which will take place at the resort's state-of-the-art football complex, from September 13-15. 

Open to any UK team, the event provides two or three nights' accommodation, a PlayFootball organised five-a-side competition, welcome cocktail and a presentation dinner, with prices starting from €226 (£200 approx) per person.

In addition, La Manga Club will also receive promotion of its facilities and packages to the members of ROKO Health Clubs - a sister brand of PlayFootball.  Both brands are owned by The Sports and Leisure Group.

Commenting on the partnership, James Bryan, associate director of sales at La Manga Club, said: "La Manga Club is all about enjoying sport in a unique environment and we welcome this partnership as another opportunity to engage our unique destination with active sports enthusiasts." 

PlayFootball's marketing and brand manager, Mark Read, said: "We are delighted to be partnering one of Europe's premier sporting destinations, and to give our players and community the chance to compete at a fantastic location for sport, used by some of the biggest club sides in the world." La Manga Club has been chosen as a warm-weather training venue by many of Europe's leading club and national sides including England, Scotland, Real Madrid and German champions Borussia Dortmund.

It boasts unrivalled facilities as a sport and leisure venue including three 18-hole championship golf courses, a 28-court tennis centre and a 2,000m² spa and fitness centre. It also offers the choice of a five-star hotel, four-star serviced apartments and townhouses, more than 20 bars and restaurants and is great fun for adults and children alike.

For more information about the new PlayFootball competition at La Manga Club, go to www.lamangaclub.com/playfootball

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Release issued and distributed by the Azalea Group.

For more information on La Manga Club or images contact Pete Simm on 01730 711920 or email petes@theazaleagroup.com 

La Manga Club - www.lamangaclub.com - is an unrivalled sports and leisure paradise which sits between the low hills that separate the Mediterranean from the Mar Menor Sea, just 20 minutes from Murcia airport and an hour from Alicante.  

Set out over an area of some 560 hectares (approx. 1,400 acres), it enjoys a mild year-round Mediterranean climate and offers visitors a prestigious five-star hotel, luxury vacation apartments and extensive sports facilities, including three championship golf courses, a 28-court tennis centre and eight grass sports pitches. The resort is also home to innumerable leisure facilities, such as the 2,000m2 Spa La Manga Club with its 13 luxurious treatment rooms, comprehensive fitness centre and 25m indoor swimming pool; meeting, banqueting and incentive facilities, and more than 20 restaurants and bars. 

As well as hosting both Davis and Fed Cup tennis matches, La Manga Club has signed a long-term deal to be the overseas training resort of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) until 2016. It has also staged the Spanish Open golf championship and hosted the 2013 Spanish International Amateur Golf Championship,  and regularly attracts professional and international football teams to the first-class year-round training facilities which are also used by rugby and cricket sides.

As a result of almost 40 years of continued investment, innovation and commitment to excellence, La Manga Club is widely recognised as Spain's flagship resort and as one of the finest sports and lifestyle destinations in the world. Evidence of this is provided by its numerous awards.

La Manga Club was the region of Murcia's candidate to bring the 2015 Solheim Cup to Spain. The resort has long been a staunch supporter of women's golf, being the official overseas resort partner of the English Women's Golf Association for three years as well as hosting the Ladies European Tour (LET) Qualifying School from 2009-12. La Manga Club is also the venue for the Ladies Murcia Open, an LET Access Series event, and regularly hosts top women's amateur events and teams.