THE Burton Albion Foundation Phase took part in festivals which saw them face teams from Liverpool, Cardiff City, Norwich City and Reading.
The under 11s festival took place on the 3G pitch at the Pirelli Stadium, while under 10s and under 9s played at Loughborough University and St. George’s Park respectively.
Academy Head of Coaching Hannah Dingley said: “We have really good relationships with a lot of clubs. One of those clubs is Liverpool and they were looking for some festivals. So, we hosted one here at the Pirelli (3G) for the under 11s, the under 10s played at Loughborough University and the under 9s were at St. George’s Park, we entered a team at all age groups.
“It is great that we have such a good link with the Burton Albion Community Trust, they have allowed us to use their facility. It allows us to run such events. We had four clubs with five teams, there were lots of parents here and it is great for our lads to be involved against category one and Premier League football club.”
Under 11s player Stevie Savage said: “We found it very tough (to start with). There were some very good teams to play against. It is exciting to play against these big clubs.”
Savage was just one of many Young Brewers that were in attendance for Friday night’s FA Youth Cup game, which saw the under 18s face Coventry City at the Pirelli Stadium. On watching the game at the Pirelli Stadium, he said: “It was a really good experience to see the under 18s play and see what they do well. Seeing them play on the Pirelli Stadium pitch inspired me.”