Young people compete to lift care-experienced football tournament trophy

A 6-a-side football tournament saw teams of care-experienced young people go head to head in a series of 8-minute matches, culminating in a final and the chance to lift an English Football League (EFL) branded trophy.

The tournament started in 2022 with just four local authorities from the West Midlands competing at a leisure centre but has since grown to more than 20 local authorities from across the country entering teams of care leavers aged 16-24 competing at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux Stadium.

Two hundred young people took to the pitch – the same pitch that many of their Premier League idols will have played on this season – with each one receiving an EFL-branded medal for their efforts.

Speaking to Social Work Today, Sam Neath (pictured right), a young person’s adviser with City of Wolverhampton Council, talks about the tournament’s beginning in a back garden in Walsall to a Premier League stadium.

“I was working with the young person[…] I tried to build a relationship with him and knew football was something that he was really into,” Sam explained.

“When the weather got bit better we used to go in the garden and I’d just like take penalties against him and I realized this young person – it's amazing...He's really talented!

“I remember putting my foot on the ball thinking ‘why aren’t you in a football team?’

“He humbled me by saying: ‘well, I've left foster care now, I’ve got no one to take me to football matches. I've got no one to take me to training.

Sam says he asked around and found other care leavers who were interested in joining a football team, but soon realized there was a lack of competitions for them to enter.

Sam therefore decided to start his own with the first Championship Cup in 2022, inviting four local authorities: Coventry, Telford, Wolverhampton and Walsall.

“We won that competition and it was an amazing day for the young person and for the team because they were training twice a week and really put a lot of effort into it – and it was amazing to see them shine.”

Since taking his idea to the Wolves Foundation, Sam has secured the hallowed ground of the 32,000-seater Molineux Stadium for both the 2024 tournament and this year’s event.

“Just seeing 200 young people with care experience go through the players’ entrance in the stadium. They walked out from the tunnel and they were able to play on a pitch that their heroes have probably played on during the last season. It's unbelievable.”

Sam says the driving force behind the tournament was to be able to connect young people with other people who may share their experiences.

“Our young people never get this chance with care experience because they're not always connected to a positive sporting group.

“We need to give them their day and we want them to be part of the team and learn the skills that you get from being a part of the team – and deal with disappointments as well.”

Sam assures us that he’s already planning for next year’s tournament to be even bigger, with 400 young people and 40 councils from across the country.

“I'm very confident that it could be done. We just need the right people to support and make it happen.”