John Stones makes undercover visit to City in the Community session | OneFootball

Manchester City’s John Stones went uncover at a secondary school to surprise one unsuspecting City in the Community (CITC) participant.

The City Star attended a City Inspires session, at Oasis Academy Leesbrook, where a group of participants thought they were taking place in a trial session for new coach, ‘Noah-Jim’.

The disguised John Stones then took part in a lesson, before his real identity was revealed.

Stones made the visit especially to surprise, and learn more about, Issa, a participant on the programme.

Issa has been on part of the City Inspires programme since September 2025, due to issues with behaviour in school. However, with the help of CITC, Issa was able to turn things around, becoming more engaged in lessons and making great progress in school.

Speaking about the challenges he faced before the CITC sessions, Issa said: “I used to get into fights and skip lessons, I was hanging around bad influences which kept getting me into trouble.

“After I started the sessions, I started thinking about consequences and how it impacts my future.  “I worked on controlling my anger and making better choices and I began attending lessons more and staying away from negative situations.”

Issa also went on to explain how the CITC coaches inspired him to improve his behaviour in school, adding: “Watching the CITC coaches showed me that discipline and teamwork matters.

“We learn about players who stay focused even under pressure instead of reacting badly, and it made me want to act calmer and think about my actions first.”

Reflecting on his visit to the City Inspires session, John said: “It was great to come down and see what they are doing here on Inspires.

“They obviously have a lot of time and respect for the coaches, and vice versa, and it’s nice to see what’s going on in the Community.

“I came here today to see Issa because this has helped him turn his life around.

“The pathway which he has been shown by City in the Community and the coaches is so important, and they should be proud, and he should be proud as well.”

Issa spoke about what it was like to meet one of the people who inspired him to turn round his attitude towards school life: “Meeting John Stones today was great, to meet a treble winning player was just a really amazing experience.”

Sitting under CITC’s Healthy Futures pillar, the programme works with groups of secondary school learners who are at risk of not reaching their potential and support them as they move through the education system and early adulthood, giving them the confidence, resilience and skills to succeed.

During the 2024/2025 season, CITC’s Inspires programme provided 345 unique participants an average of 93 contact hours, helping them with their personal development.

With thanks to the Premier League Foundation for funding the programme.

To become a Inspires school for the 2026/2027 academic year, email [email protected].

If you want to support CITC, enter this month’s Prize Draw competition, for the chance to win a signed Antoine Semenyo shirt, 2025/26 Puma football signed by the entire Manchester City Men’s First Team and Brentford Match tickets.

Enter the prize draw here

The City in the Community Prize Draw is powered by Raise Your Game and your support will go towards sustaining the charity’s programmes, which empower healthier lives through football.

Entries start at £5 per ticket; fans can enter on a one-off basis, or they can sign up to a direct debit, meaning they enter the draw monthly automatically. *

City in the Community empowers healthier lives through football.

To find out more, visit www.mancity.com/citc or follow @citcmancity on social media.

*Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Qatar, Lebanon, and North Korea are the only excluded countries from the prize draw.