Manchester City is to continue its tech drive in 2017 with a hackathon that will be held in collaboration with Google.

The hackathon, which will be held at the Etihad Stadium in February, is the second to be run by the football club.

The first was done in collaboration with digital agency Play and focused on extracting performance-enhancing insights from match data. The second hackathon will look at digital fan engagement as applicants are challenged to come up with innovative ways to reinforce a sense of community among the clubs fans across the world.

Founded in 1894, the club is seeking to ensure that every member of its community can stay connected with the club through digital technology.

Manchester City Football Club will host the event on the 10th-12th February, along with help from Play, and Google will provide judges, facilitators, prizes and provide participants with the opportunity to benefit from a wider breadth of expertise.

The club has been trying out virtual reality headsets to improve fan engagement.

Diego Gigliani, SVP for Media and Innovation at City Football Group, said: “From our first hackathon to our co-created website, among many other activities, we’ve witnessed first-hand that great ideas can come from anywhere.

“By engaging in open conversation with a diverse and passionate community, we’ve been able to uncover new paths to explore together. We hope to replicate this again during our second hackathon – by engaging with our community and coming up with creative ways to employ new technologies or digital means that create a sense of belonging among our global fan base.”

The #HackManCity event is inviting programmers, designers, researchers, strategists, marketers, social media specialists, students and innovators to apply for a place.

Successful applications will be able to head down one of two tracks; the Cityzen Hack, which is designed for experienced individuals from their fields, and the Academy, which is for those that are new to hackathons.

Applications are open to anyone over the age of 18 and the deadline to apply is 10am on Monday 23rd January 2017.