Sixty schools from across England and Wales savour Premier League experience at Watford’s Vicarage Road

Hundreds of children from across England and Wales this week had an experience that will live long in their memory at the latest Premier League Primary Stars Football Tournament.

Being held for the first time since 2019 because of the Coronavirus pandemic, an expanded competition featured two days of football at Vicarage Road, the home of Watford FC.

The tournament is the highlight of the PL Primary Stars programme, which is delivered by 105 professional football clubs and inspires children in more than 18,000 schools.

All participating players had the full Premier League matchday experience, coming out of the tunnel to the competition’s anthem, playing on the pitch and being refereed by Select Group match officials.

Some kids even arrived in their clubs’ first-team coaches.

There was another surprise as Watford defender Christian Kabasele showed his support by watching the day one matches and signing autographs.

“Football is a game that everyone can enjoy and has the potential to empower and inspire people in their everyday lives,” said Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters.

“I have no doubt that each of the players is an inspiration to other young people in their communities, and they should be incredibly proud of the hard work, effort and skill they have shown to reach the competition and compete on a Premier League pitch in their team’s kit.”

More than 700 schools entered qualifying tournaments for the right to represent their Premier League, EFL or National League clubs.

On Tuesday, 40 schools representing the 20 Premier League clubs took part in Under-11 Mixed and Under-11 Girls competitions.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary, representing Crystal Palace, won the U11 Mixed Final with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea’s Honeywell Junior.

Brentford, taking part in the tournament for the first time, claimed the U11 Girls crown when Collis Primary from Teddington (pictured above) won the final against Newcastle United’s Valley Gardens Middle School, who had received support from Sky Sports News presenters.

Twenty schools representing seven Premier League teams as well as EFL and National League clubs, such as York City, Preston North End, Bristol Rovers, Burton Albion and Crewe Alexandra, played in the inaugural Premier League Primary Stars National Girls Tournament the following day.

Newport County’s Caerleon Lodge Hill Primary (pictured top) claimed the trophy by beating Altrincham’s Bowdon Church 1-0 in the final.