Schools compete in Foundation competition

17th March 2022

Wolves Foundation were delighted to play their part in the return of a national schools’ competition with almost 600 pupils taking to the pitch at the Aldersley Arena recently.

The Premier League Primary Stars tournament is one of the most prestigious on the schools calendar, and, with a place in the final at Watford’s Vicarage Road up for grabs, the Foundation have hosted a girls and boys’ preliminary competition for Year Five and Six pupils in recent weeks.

Fifteen girls’ teams entered with St John’s School in Cannock coming out on top to secure automatic qualification for the national finals, with runners-up Old Park in Telford now heading to the regional finals at Bodymoor Heath to try and join them.

An incredible 46 schools from across Wolverhampton, Dudley and Telford entered the boys’ competition, split into a morning and afternoon event, with Elston Hall and Codsall Middle School crowned as winners who went on to a separate final at the Compton training ground, from which Codsall emerged victorious.

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Greg Warren, senior education officer (schools) reflected on three excellent competitions as the tournament returned after a two-year absence due to Covid.

“It was so good to have everyone back at events again and they all went really well,” says Greg. “The pupils were buzzing, the teachers were buzzing and our staff were buzzing – it was great to get everyone together.

“The engagement between the teachers was really good and the games were played in a really positive environment. A few players from club academies took part and there was an example from one of them which was my favourite moment of the day.

“It was a player from Brindley Academy whose team won a penalty shootout in the knockout stages to progress to the next round. His first reaction before the celebrations was to go straight up to his opponent who had missed his penalty and was understandably a bit upset to commiserate with him.

“It was a brilliant gesture and one which summed up the spirit of all of the competitions.”

Greg paid tribute to Schools Educators Jack Dainty and Josh Uppal who organised the events for the Foundation so efficiently, part of a fantastic team effort from all involved on the days.

Premier League Primary Stars is the Foundation’s programme of education and activities for schools from Wolverhampton and surrounding areas, run in partnership with the Premier League Charitable Fund, which has the overall responsibility for the national tournament.

Congratulations to St John’s and Codsall Middle Schools who will now represent Wolves Foundation in the national finals, good luck to Old Park in their regional qualifiers, and a big thank you to all the schools which took part.