England to face Italy and Portugal at the Pirelli Stadium
Burton Albion will once again host international football with The FA confirming that the Pirelli Stadium will be one of the venues for their annual U17 tournament next month.
The Brewers will entertain England fixtures against Italy on Wednesday August 29 and Portugal on Sunday September 2 with England v Turkey sandwiched in-between at Northampton Town's Sixfields on Friday August 31.
Both stadiums are easily commutable from St. George's Park with England U17s all set to be the very first international side to stay and train at The FA's £100m world class coach education facility in Needwood.
Tickets for both games at Burton Albion will be priced at £3 adults and £1 concessions and available via 01283 565938 with a limited amount of free tickets for County FA affiliated clubs who hold the Charter Standard.
Burton Albion Chairman Ben Robinson said, 'We are delighted to be once again hosting international football at the Pirelli Stadium with these two fantastic matches involving the England Under-17s. These matches will be a great opportunity for football fans from across our local area to see some of the stars of the future game and we expect both matches to be terrific events for all the family.'
Former Aston Villa European Cup winner, Kenny Swain, will be a part of the England coaching team for the tournament and says that the three games will play an important part in the career development of the youngsters: "It's a big competition for us and against quality opposition so our objectives are to improve the squad and prepare them for the international season ahead.
"This is the ideal environment for that. We have a UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign ahead and we've been quite proud of our achievements at U17 level in recent years," said Swain who will assist England U17s Head Coach, John Peacock, at the tournament.
England U17s beat Spain 2-1 to win the UEFA European Championship in 2009 with Sunderland and former Ipswich Town striker Connor Wickham scoring the match winner.
Joining Wickham in the title winning squad was Chelsea's Josh McEachran and Birmingham City goalkeeper, Jack Butland, who made Roy Hodgson's senior Euros squad in Ukraine and Poland last month.
Swain is hoping that the current crop of U17 players will be able to make a similar impact in years to come: "We like to expose players to different types of challenges especially going to other countries and experiencing different cultures.
"In the meantime this will be the first time they've played in a tournament like this on home soil so it's a great opportunity for the boys and an addition to the experiences that they've built up already."
England U17 International TournamentÂ
August 29
England v Italy - KO 7pm
Burton Albion
August 31
England v Turkey - KO 7pm
Northampton Town
Sept 2
England v Portugal - KO 2pm
Burton Albion
Non-England fixtures will be held on August 31 and September 2 at Hinckley United and Northampton Town on August 29.