It was a day to remember for hundreds of schoolchildren as they took part in the latest Premier League Primary Stars National Girls’ Football Tournament
Hundreds of young people from across England and Wales this summer travelled to Molineux Stadium, the home of Wolverhampton Wanderers, to take part in the latest Premier League Primary Stars National Girls’ Football Tournament.
Having come through regional qualifying tournaments to make the national finals, the players were able to have a taste of life as a top-flight footballer for the day as they wore their local professional club’s first-team kit and competed in matches officiated by top-flight referees.
The annual event not only celebrates the year-round work of the Premier League Primary Stars programme, it highlights how the Premier League is inspiring the next generation of female footballers.
We spoke to some of the people involved to find out what they made of a memorable day.
Isla, Carlisle United
“I started playing football when I was four-years-old. It’s a chance to go out and be with my friends. As I’ve grown up, it’s become more of a passion of mine. Wherever I play, I feel like I’m always in a happy place.
“This a really good opportunity. All of our team are completely passionate about football and having this experience to come to the Wolves stadium is really big for us.
“Some of us dream one day to be a professional footballer and just by doing this it’s making our dreams begin.
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“Being here makes me feel really happy and thankful to get this experience. It’s like a whole new level of playing football.
“It’s really important that girls football is recognised. If the girls want to play football, they should be able to follow their passion. This event allows us to do that.
“This is going to make me think about football more and see how good I can be. It’s really inspiring and it feels like the Premier League is really helping football for young people.”
Anais, Southend United
“The atmosphere here is amazing. It’s the pitch, the fans cheering us on, everything. It’s so cool. I love it.
“It’s like a dream come true. I never thought this would happen. I only started playing two years ago.
“My friend Sienna played for a team, my other friend joined and I thought, ‘why don’t I join?’ Playing makes my day. I just love the feeling of the ball touching my foot and I love the feeling of scoring.
“It’s hard to explain what it was like coming out of the tunnel. I felt like a professional. It inspires me to be a professional one day and play at a stadium like this.
“The fact there is a girls’ tournament means everything, honestly. This support for girls football is very important. Having a girls tournament allows us to express ourselves.
“The main thing I will take from today is that dreams do come true. I’m happy and I’ve got to play football. If I don’t win, I don’t win. Whatever happens, happens. As long as you come out with a smile on your face.
“My team-mates are amazing. Even if I’m sad, they always encourage me. Two years ago I couldn’t kick a ball. So if you had said to me then that I would be at a tournament like this, I wouldn’t have believed you.
“My progress makes me more confident, it makes me feel like I can do anything.”
Michael Barwick, sports teacher at Sidegate Primary School, Ipswich Town
“Seeing the girls play here is unbelievable. They have had a fantastic year and this tops it off. The joy they’re having is amazing and they’re loving it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“They’re competitive but they’re also really nice and chilled off the pitch. They’re lovely to have on trips. They’re really calm. They are a group of lovely girls with lovely parents. You couldn’t ask for anything else.
“I just felt really proud of them seeing them come out of the tunnel. I don’t think they’re going to have the opportunity to do this sort of thing again. Just to see the smiles makes it all worth it. It’s one of the best days I’ve had working in school.
“Having the Premier League involved is so exciting. The girls just seeing the Premier League logo and the standard it sets across everything, straight away it’s a buy-in from them. Once they come here and see the Premier League, the Premier League Trophy, all of that stuff makes a difference.
“It’s just a great lesson because we were so close to this last year but we just missed out. To still have that resilience to not give up, this year they’re now getting the rewards. They are going to remember this forever.
“Having these girls here is an example for the rest of the school. When they’ve been successful in the previous rounds you can see the younger girls thinking, ‘we can do that.’ Then they’re asking me about when they can be in the girls’ football team. They’ve probably inspired all the girls at our school to give football a go, it’s had a massive impact. That’s probably the same for every club that’s here.
“Even the schools who just narrowly missed out, they will also have been inspired. It’s everyone who has entered, which I think is thousands and thousands of children. It’s a fantastic event.
“The landscape in girls football is completely different to when I first started. At first I’d get about 10 girls coming to a lunch club and now I’m getting about 40. This will go up even more now, so I might need to find another member of staff!”
Esme, Liverpool
“Being here is just crazy. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’m having so much fun. Coming out of the tunnel felt unreal because I’m carrying a sense of pride for the club as well. It was a special moment.
“Being with my friends makes it even more fun because my mates are all funny and we laugh a lot. I’m going to take away that I tried my best, I worked hard and I did well. Thank you for giving me this experience.
“I never thought that I would be in a stadium like this. I am so lucky. Being a part of this will encourage me to play more.
“This tournament makes girls football more widely known and it’s making it bigger and giving us more fans. It is important to me because I want girls’ football to be the same as the men’s game. This tournament will help that.”
Alana, Wolverhampton Wanderers
“It’s really fun, exciting and competitive to play at a tournament like this. Playing on a Premier League pitch is really nice. Representing Wolves makes me feel really special because I am representing the team instead of just the school.
“I started playing football when I was five years old. My brother is Tyrone Mings, who plays for Aston Villa. He thinks I’m good and it’s a really good achievement to get here. He told me to just play my best.
“It’s really good to promote women’s football. Things aren’t just focused on the boys, it’s a bunch of girls playing football and showing what they can do. It means a lot that we are given the same chances.”
Matt Owen, Year 5 teacher at Greasby Junior School, Tranmere Rovers
“This is an amazing experience for the girls. They’ve been so excited for weeks. We made it a really big thing at our school. It’s huge for them.
“I think it’s a real confidence-boosting experience. It allows them to thrive under a little bit of pressure but also understand that fair play is still a huge part of that, and that it’s OK to lose in competitions like this. This is a really high standard of football that we’re seeing and it helps them to grow on and off the pitch.
“They’ve done so well to get here and they deserve that moment of walking out of the tunnel. I was very proud. I know our parents that are here thoroughly enjoyed it. They were very, very loud when they came out! It was an amazing experience for them and brilliant for me to watch because it’s the culmination of all the hard work we put in.
“It’s once in a lifetime. For our Year 6 girls in particular, this is their last opportunity to do something like this at primary school level. It’s something they won’t forget.
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“We are big advocates of women’s sport at our school and it’s been great to see in recent times how much that has advanced, particularly with football. The Premier League is doing a brilliant job of promoting that and this can only enhance women’s football as a whole. It is a huge support for the women’s game.
“We have mixed football teams in Year 6. Those girls are exceptionally good footballers and they deserve to play in those teams on merit.
“We are very lucky in our school we’ve got plenty that we can offer them, we’ve got plenty of resources and equipment that we can provide but this has shown that there’s another level that you can go up to as well so it’s incredible.”
Evie, Oxford United
“This is a top stadium and I haven’t been able to play on a pitch like this before. Being in the same place where people like Erling Haaland and Bukayo Saka have played is really cool. You feel like some of their identity is still here.
“I felt like a proper footballer when I came out of the tunnel and I scored a free-kick, that was so good!
“I started playing football when I was four. I like it being a team sport and making new friends.
“You can think about your future and when I’m older this is where I would like to play. It gives me more confidence because I’ve already done it.
“The Premier League is one of the biggest leagues so it’s good to know that I’ve been a part of something to do with it. Years ago tournaments for girls didn’t happen. It shows that they believe in girls’ football.”
Keyli, Leicester City
“It’s really good playing here and it feels like we’ve come so far. I’m the only Year 5 player in our team. I learn from the Year 6s, they teach me what to do and they really encourage me.
“I’m proud of the team that we’ve made, I’m proud of the team that we have.
“This tournament gives me more confidence to be able to be a professional football player, to be like Hannah Hampton and Mary Earps. I want to play for England eventually.
“It wasn’t easy when I started being a goalkeeper because I felt really bad when the other team scored but now I’m still encouraging the girls to keep their heads up. This helps me become a better player.
“Seeing a pitch full of girls team makes me feel really happy. It means so much to me that the Premier League is involved because I know that I am not alone, me and my friends are all being encouraged. I will never forget today.”
Lottie, Brentford
“There was quite bit of pressure in the final but I knew we could do it and take home the trophy. To score both goals in that game feels really good. I’m really proud of myself.
“We went behind in the final but we fought back. We are really determined and we pick each other up a lot. Our heads never went down. We kept on going.
“Playing here is really exciting. It’s such a special moment. It feels really good playing on a pitch knowing that famous people have touched the grass. It’s so nice to play on.
“Winning this makes me feel a lot more confident about myself and my team. I want to be a professional footballer and this will help because I know I can do it.
“Seeing all the girls’ teams playing here makes me feel excited about the future of women’s football and what we can achieve.”
Luke Beaumont, schools sport project officer, Watford FC’s Community Sports & Education Trust
“Our team are very competitive, they know each other outside of school, they play for the same football team so it’s a fun day out and a good experience for the girls to be in the shoes of a professional football player.
“They are bringing in those Premier League Primary Stars values going forward, being more inspired to keep trying to become a footballer, being ambitious, trying new skills and also having that experience behind them where they can go on to secondary school and say I’ve been here, I’ve played on a professional football pitch.
“It’s given them a great opportunity. As well as gaining a lot of confidence, they have learnt important life skills such as how to conduct yourself, how to represent a club and how to represent your school at a place like this.
“For me, Premier League Primary Stars means seeing the growth of the pupils I work with, seeing them grow as individuals, as a class, as a team.
“They’re wonderful role models within their school. The younger age group looks up to them. The rest of the school are behind them. We’ve done a mini assembly and the other girls in the school know that the girls are here so the next year group can follow in their footsteps.
“A lot of children do not have opportunities like this. When they get older, they’ll look back on today and say, ‘I was there and I represented Watford.’ It’s one of those special moments.”
What is Premier League Primary Stars?
Premier League Primary Stars is the Premier League’s primary school education programme that supports children to learn through the power of football in more than 19,000 primary schools across England and Wales.
A total of 104 professional football club charities currently deliver in-classroom Premier League Primary Stars sessions within their local communities.
The free programme also provides teachers with downloadable resources across a range of curriculum subjects at Key Stage 1 (age 5-7) and Key Stage 2 (age 7-11), developed by teachers for teachers to support children to develop skills and values that are crucial to success in later life.