English Schools' Football Association

Keepmoat Stadium to host ESFA Finals for Second Consecutive Year

The ESFA are thrilled to be able to provide young footballers in English schools and colleges the opportunity to compete in our four, prestigious Under 18 National Cup competitions, which have seen over 700 teams enter to be in with a chance of becoming this season’s National Champions!

This season has seen teams from across the country enter the U18 competitions for both Boys’ and Girls’ Schools’ and Colleges’ and it will be a double header boys’ final at Doncaster this season with Hartpury College and Gateshead College competing in the Colleges’ Cup and Shenfield High School and Thomas Telford School taking on each other in the Schools’ cup final. These four teams now prepare to play for the honour of becoming the National Champions of their respective competitions at The Keepmoat Stadium on Wednesday 9 March

• ESFA U18 Colleges’ Cup for Boys – 12pm KO
• ESFA U18 Schools’ Cup for Boys – 4pm KO

The teams have battled it out through six and eight rounds, respectively, to make it through to these prestigious National Finals. Previous rounds have been played on local grounds with the teams playing through all kinds of weather to secure their places in the finals.

Andrea Chilton, ESFA CEO said ‘I wish to congratulate all of the teams on their success in reaching the ESFA National Finals. It is testament to the commitment and hard work of players and staff, with the ongoing support of their schools, that they have reached the pinnacle of these competitions. We wish all of our worthy finalists the best of luck for a successful day.’

To support these deserving schools in their final round of this prestigious competition, all information regarding the finalists is available online via the ESFA website and by following the ESFA Twitter account @SchoolsFootball.

Mike Spinks, ESFA Chairman said ‘The quality of the experience the players will have in this match will be a memory that they will retain for the rest of their lives. The ESFA have been running schools’ football for 112 years. I hope these finals will be able to portray the importance of this legacy. Schools’ football is a unique experience for the thousands of schoolchildren who enjoy it every year and the principles of sportsmanship, good behavior, respect for officials and opponents are cornerstones of our philosophy. I hope everyone can feel a great sense of pride in what they and their team have achieved this season’

We are very proud to be in the privileged position of running these outstanding competitions, allowing young footballers to showcase their skills and work as a team towards becoming National Champions! We would also like to thank the staff at Doncaster Rovers FC for their support in hosting this final on our behalf.

Both matches will be broadcast live online via www.247.tv and for just £5 per match, you can view all the action live, as it happens.

Hospitality packages are available for all Under 18 finals, the advert for which can be found on our website and via Twitter, alternatively please contact Sarah Kearney for further information. Tickets are £4 adults and £2 children on the day and DRFC Season Ticket holders get in for free.

353 Photography will  be covering our finals this year and all photos will be available to purchase from his website following matches.

The ESFA wish the best of luck to all competing teams at Doncaster Rovers this season!