Kids Wembley Dreams Can Come True
The Football League’s Girls and Kids Cup gives school children across the country the chance to compete for an exciting, once in a lifetime opportunity, to play at Wembley Stadium.
The competitions, which are run by The Football League Trust, get underway at the end of the month and will involve over 20,000 children. Combined, the Cups create one of the country’s largest national football competitions, which culminate in exciting finals at Wembley Stadium in front of thousands of fansbefore a major football final, as schoolchildren live out their dream.
Shaun Harvey, Chief Executive of the Football League commented, “Thanks to deep rooted connections of Football League clubs to their communities, last year over 1.5 million people across the country took part in Football League Trust projects with 22,000 children contesting the Kids and Girls Cups.
“To play at Wembley is a dream for millions of young people and The Football League is proud to make this dream a reality for another group of budding young players and their families.”
Two children whose dreams came true last year were Lawrence Cooper and Alex Fugle. Lawrence scored the winning goal for Huncoats School who were representing Accrington Stanley in the League 2 Kids Cup Final, he said: “When I scored it was overwhelming, words can’t describe how good it felt. I’ve been dreaming of the moment I score at Wembley for a long time, ever since I can remember. My Dad was in the crowd and he was excited to see me play, so I wanted to win it for him.”
Alex of Elthorne High School, who scored the only goal of the Girls Cup final as Brentford beat Hartlepool, she said “It felt amazing. I’ve always wanted to play at Wembley and score. It’s the best feeling in the whole world.”
The competitions have a unique format. Each of the 72 Football League clubs run a competition for their local schools, with the winners representing their club, through various stages, on the road to Wembley.
Last season saw both Kids and Girls Cup attract a record numbers of entrants. The total number of boys and girls taking part across both competitions last this year was over 22,000. Mirroring the growth in Women’s football generally the Girls Cup recorded an impressive 20% rise in participation with over 6000 girls taking part. Whilst the Kids Cup recorded a huge increase of 35% from 2013/14 with 1,974 schools participating against 1,370 in the previous year.
The Football League Girls Cup is a six-a-side competition for girls aged under 13. Each club’s winners represent the club at area and then regional stages, culminating in a grand final prior to the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium on the 3rd April, 2016
The Football League Kids Cup is a six-a-side competition for children under 11, and sees the 72 clubs split into 3 divisions, in line with club’s divisional status, before being again split into two groups, north and south. The winners of the divisional northern and southern finals then qualify for the chance to play at Wembley before the Sky Bet Football League Play-Off Final of the relevant division.
Schools that wish to take part are encouraged to contact their local Football League club for more details. Further information how how to take part contact your local Football League club’s community trust
