The iconic St. George’s Park was the venue this summer for the latest edition of the Premier League Kicks Cup.
More than 180 young people from 24 professional football clubs took part in the Under-16 mixed tournament, which celebrates the work that Premier League Kicks delivers across England and Wales to support communities throughout the year.
Six hundred participants representing 88 professional football clubs were involved in regional qualifying tournaments in the hope of earning the chance to play in the tournament.
At St. George’s Park they wore their club’s first-team playing kit while Premier League, EFL and Women’s Super League match officials took charge of the matches. The young people also attended gender equality workshops and heard from inspirational speakers.
As part of Premier League Kicks, clubs work with 36 police forces throughout the country to tackle issues affecting young people. The Premier League Kicks Cup gave representatives from professional football club charities, Premier League, Premier League Charitable Fund, police forces and the National Police Chief’s Council the opportunity to explore further opportunities to work together to create safer and more inclusive communities.
We spoke to some of the people involved on that day to find out what the tournament and Premier League Kicks means to them. Here are their stories.
