English Schools' Football Association

Last week saw he second meet up of the Under 18 Boys and Under 15 Girls international squads. The ESFA International partner InspireSport took the squads off for a week of training to get them prepared for their forthcoming competitive fixtures.

The Under 15 Girls squad were taken to Eindhoven to prepare for the upcoming Bob Docherty Tournament. The tour kicked off with an early morning flight to Eindhoven last Monday and the girls were thrown in at the deep end with a training session on arrival. The next day saw the girls face their first collective test against CVV Berkel Women’s team. The ESFA squad found themselves 2-0 down in a hard fought match but came back to win the match 3-2 following a dramatic comeback. The nest day was spent at the PSV Eindhoven with the squad being treated to a tour of the Phillips Stadion. After the tour, the team was taken training complex doing a training session in De Herdgang and were then surprised to be able to meet players from the PSV Men’s and Women’s first teams. The next day the girls retuned to De Hardgang for an early morning training session before their next match against their PSV counterparts. The ESFA squad was able to show their collective spirit and their togetherness to battle their way to a 2-0 victory.

The girls showed great attitude and aptitude during their tour. All the coaches and ESFA staff that travelled would like to thank them for their hard work during the tour. The squad will meet up again for their next match in the John Reid Trophy against the Republic of Ireland on the 10^th of March at Stafford Town FC.

The Boys squad was treated to a tip to Valencia for their warm weather training. The boys were pushed to their limits during the week but by all reports were outstanding in their commitment to representing their country. The boy’s squad was taken from the gate to the grass, as they were straight into a training session. The boys' hard work during the day was rewarded with a trip to the Valencia v Levante Liga Santander game. The boys spent the Tuesday training in preparation for their two major tests coming up. The first test the squad faced was a game against their hosts from Valencia C. The game was a technical affair seeing the Schools' Squad pick up a hard fought 2-1 victory. The following day saw the England Schoolboys put up against their counterparts from Levante in a match that saw the England edge out 2-1 victors on the day.

The Boys squad will meet up again for their next match against the Republic of Ireland at Luton Town FC on the 16^th of March at 7pm. This will be their first match in the Centenary Shield for 2018 and everyone at ESFA would love to see as many people as we can down to the match.