So finally the day the children had been waiting for arrived, with a bright and early start at 6.30am! With the tournament taking place at Stamford Bridge, a coach had been provided to take us to the ground, but no ordinary one, very spacious and luxurious which gave the children time to relax and get ready. Upon arrival to the stadium we were in a convoy which was led into the entrance, once here the children got off the coach, but were not ready for what happened next. Once off they were greeted by 10 plus photographers clicking away at them similar to what an A list celebrity would be used to! From here they entered the stadium and were led onto the pitch to take their seats before the opening ceremony.

The teams were then led down the tunnel and placed in alphabetical order to enter the pitch, which we did with Captain Stephane flying the Arsenal FC flag. Once the ceremony had finished it was the moment the children had been waiting for, the action on the pitch.

First up for us were Middlesbrough FC represented by St Patricks RC Primary. A tight game went in our favour as Han scored the only goal of the game. Next were Manchester United FC (Tyntesfield Primary) which was a really exciting game. We scored early through Stephane but it didn't last for long as United equalised. Cameron with one of the goals of the day, which was started off by Sid in goal, put us ahead again but unfortunately we couldn't hold out and the game ended 2-2 as United scored.

Burnley FC (Briercliffe Primary), were our third opponents, and here we suffered our first defeat going down 3-1 with Han scoring, although the scoreline was bit harsh as we had chances to score and their third goal came with the last kick of the game.This also meant we wouldn't progress any further as only the top team would go through, but we had one final match to play, and in football, especially in London there is no bigger game than the North London Derby, Arsenal v Tottenham!

Not only were points at stake but also bragging rights, and the fact both sets of players knew each other fairly well added more spice to the encounter. Tottenham’s representatives, Muswell Hill Primary started off the better and should have taken the lead, but lady luck was smiling down on us. We then took control and hit the bar and post. With two minutes to go, magic man, Han produced an amazing individual finish, when his mazy dribble saw him go past three players and finish in style. From here it was backs against the wall, as Tottenham pressed forward for the equaliser, but we defended for our lives and were deserved victors, as the final whistle blew to give us a 1-0 win. The result meant we finished third in the group but only down to goal difference as ourselves and Burnley finished on level points.

The victory capped off an amazing day for the children. Despite being labelled a ‘mixed’ competition, schools are allowed to play all boys teams and we encountered that in every game we played, however our three girls, Ella, Henrietta and Layla played brilliantly in all our matches so to do what we did makes it even more of a fantastic achievement against some of the best footballing schools in England. Over 1,000 schools with 8,000 plus pupils taking part at the onset, we should be really proud of the the children’s achievements to make it into the top 20.

The day was one they will never forget, getting the opportunity to play on the pitch of the Premier League champions, graced by the best players in the world is one most can only dream of, so to do it is surely a memory that will last forever. Hats off to the Premier League they pulled out all the stops with the children treated like VIP’s from start to finish, and finally huge thank you to our supporters (mainly parents and siblings) who came to cheer the children on aswell. The event was also televised by CBBC, so here is the link to watch via BBC iplayer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/cbbc/episode/b08t0q0t/motd-kickabout-premier-league-schools-tournament