A huge Chinese television audience is finding out about an English UK member centre which teaches English with football, in Manchester.

Students on academic and summer courses at the Inlingua Manchester Football College combine their academic studies with afternoon sessions at one of Manchester City's training grounds. English lessons can include both high-level courses and the basic skills required to follow the instructions given by a football coach during training sessions.

"Mention Manchester around the world, and people think of the football teams," says centre director Peter Hayes.

The school will be featured on a programme made for a television station in Guangzhou, the third largest city in China. The television station and the Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office wanted to find a language centre to introduce UK summer programmes.

Mr Hayes says the Football College attracts students (mostly male), from all around the world. "They want to be footballers or enter a football-related career. There are quite a few different careers, such as physiotherapy or sports coach, or sports science," he says.

The students on the year-round academic programmes often go on to sport-related degree courses. Squads from the centre take part in an international youth tournament in Madrid each year.

The students have afternoon training sessions at the Platt Lane Manchester City Football Development Department, with the club's Football Development Team.

The Football College was founded in 2006 after Mr Hayes, who was already running a business and professional English centre, formed a partnership with Michael Brennan who is an UEFA qualified coach, and was working with the community department of Blackburn Rovers. Since then the college's courses have become more and more popular. "We have been surprised by the demand for this course, because it is so specific," says Mr Hayes.