English Schools' Football Association

As the professional football season builds to a thrilling climax with the nail-biting conclusion to the Premiership, the FA Cup Final and the UEFA Champions' League, the top school teams in four regions across England are readying themselves for the next crucial stage of their own quests for glory in Europe's largest 11-a-side schools' football tournament - the Minute Maid Schools' Cup.

Following highly competitive Minute Maid Regional Schools' Cups in the North, Midlands, SE and SW, the best four school teams in each region have won through to the respective Finals.

Minute Maid Schools' Cup - SE Final
Venue: Wycombe Wanderers FC
Date: April 25

Boys' Final (KO: 11.00am)
Nobel School (Hertfordshire) v
Glyn Technology School (Surrey)

Girls' Final (KO: 1.45pm)
St Martin's School (Essex) v
Tideway School (Sussex)

Minute Maid Schools' Cup - SW Final
Venue: Cirencester Town FC
Date: April 26

Boys' Final (KO: 10.30am)
Emmanuel Middle School (Dorset) v
Rednock School (Gloucestershire)

Girls' Final (KO: 2.30pm)
South Dartmoor Community College (Devon) v
Dorcan Technology College (Wiltshire)

Minute Maid Schools' Cup - Northern Final
Venue: Darlington FC
Date: April 27

Girls' Final (KO: 11.15am)
Penistone Grammar School (South Yorkshire) v
Ormskirk School (Lancashire)

Boys' Final (KO: 2.15pm)
Walbottle Campus (Northumberland) v
Cardinal Heenan Sports College (Merseyside)

Minute Maid Schools' Cup - Midlands Final
Venue: Rushden & Diamond FC
Date: May 2

Girls' Final: (KO: 11.15am)
Aylesford School (Warwickshire) v
William Farr CE Comprehensive School (Lincolnshire)

Boys' Final (KO: 2.15pm)
Kenilworth School (Warwickshire) v
Lancaster School (Leicestershire)

The winning schools in the Minute Maid Regional Schools' Cup Finals will then get the dream opportunity to play-off in the tournament's National Semi-Finals on May 9 at the home of either Reading FC (The Madejski Stadium) or Middlesbrough FC (The Riverside Stadium) as follows:

The Riverside Stadium:
Northern Champions vs. Midlands Champions

The Madejski Stadium:
SE Champions vs. SW Champions

A further victory will see the winners through to the showpiece finale of the grassroots football season - The Minute Maid Schools' Cup National Finals - to be played at The Ricoh Arena, the multi-purpose stadium home to Coventry City FC, on May 22.

England winger Stewart Downing has thrown his backing behind the teams involved in this season's tournament with the Middlesbrough FC midfielder commenting:

"As the biggest 11-a-side schools' football tournament in Europe, the climax of the Minute Maid Schools' Cup will be one to watch!

"It's like an FA Cup for kids and with the tournament now down to the final few teams it's really between the best of the best.

"Getting the chance to play in professional football stadiums in the final stages of the Minute Maid Schools' Cup will be brilliant for the schools involved - you hope you'll have that sort of opportunity when you are starting out in football.

"It will make the players want more chances to play at top football venues - it will give them the drive to develop their games and you never know, maybe provide the inspiration to make it to the top."

This season over half the secondary schools in England have taken part in the Minute Maid Schools' Cup. Run in partnership with the English Schools' Football Association for the fifth consecutive season, the tournament has seen more than 40,000 young players from over 2,600 school teams participate in grass roots football at under-13 level.

To view more reports and stories on the ESFA Minute Maid Schools' Cup, please visit the tournament's new media partner the Daily Mail Online