First stop was Downing Street, followed in the afternoon by a trip to Wembley Stadium. Waiting for them at the stadium were an enthusiastic bunch of talented female footballers from the Middlesex County FA Girls Centre of Excellence.
The 20 players aged 8-12 were invited along to showcase their skills on the hallowed Wembley turf. The players who were treated like VIP’s throughout the day, preceded their training session with their own personal Stadium tour, waiter service lunch and to the delight of all, a comfy-seated, Xbox-laden, holding room.
After a brief rehearsal in between rain showers earlier in the day, the girls headed out to begin their training session ahead of the expectant media. With Sky Sports and almost all terrestrial channels covering the FIFA delegation visit, it was inevitable the players and coaches should be nervous; however the younger ones present, seemed to take it in their stride and looked at home on the fantastic new pitch at Wembley.
Their coaches took them through a series of ball control drills with guest coach (and member of England’s 2018 World Cup bid team) Kadra Ege also involved throughout. Fabio Capello welcomed the coaches and watched on with a big smile while the girls who were eager to impress the National Coach pulled some special skills out of the bag.
Then after a few minutes the music began and Mr Capello was taken to meet the FIFA team as they emerged from the players’ tunnel. While they were being welcomed and shown aspects of the stadium from the pitch the girls continued with their coaching session, only taking a brief glimpse over when the delegates had moved onto the serious issue of penalty taking!
After the FIFA team had left and the media began to wind down, the players were allowed one final treat to finish off what had been a fantastically memorable day – they got to play a match at Wembley!
Charlotte Edwards, Senior Football Development Officer at Middlesex FA expressed the excitement of the day; “it has been a fantastic day for everyone involved; the girls have been exceptional not only on the pitch but throughout the day and they will have many wonderful memories and photo’s to share for years to come.
I’d like to thank the 2018 bid team for inviting the Middlesex FA Girls Centre of Excellence to be part of such an important day, and hope we have played our small part in bringing the World Cup to England in 2018”.
For more information on the Middlesex County FA Girls Centre of Excellence, please contact Sue Haynes on 0208 515 6909.
