Bringing together a host of Premier League and Football League academies, the festival approach provided an action packed day of football for all of the young players involved. The five events, staged regionally across the country, gave clubs the opportunity to play against opposition outside their immediate area, in a developmental approach encouraged within the academy games programme.

Blackburn Rovers chose to participate in the event staged at the Arsenal academy, using the training facilities in the evening prior to the festival day. Similarly West Ham United visited the Midlands to pit their wits against the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leicester City and Coventry City.

ideal platform

The event was praised by Blackburn Rovers Assistant Academy Manager Terry McPhillips: "Not only do we play against teams that we don't normally face, often playing a different style of football, we find that the experience of travelling to the event and training at a different facility an invaluable experience for the players and staff alike."

Huw Jennings, Youth Development Manager at the Premier League, added his support to the events and pointed out the benefit that young players will have gained from taking part:"It is fantastic that 500 players have participated this week. This programme comes at a vital time in their development and would have given the clubs an ideal platform to assess their progress."

Please watch out for news of further academy events in the near future.