Young fans get their Kickz

Kickz is a national social inclusion programme aimed at building safer, stronger more respectful communities through the development of young people’s potential.

Thanks to support from The FA, almost two hundred and fifty young people from Kickz projects across London, Birmingham, Reading and Portsmouth cheered on England Under-21s to a 3-0 victory over Ireland at a packed St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton.

For many, the trip was their first to a professional football club stadium, let alone an international fixture.

“We’ve got 12-18 year olds here, and the tickets are a really good way of rewarding any volunteers and lots of participants who show good attendance and improved attitudes at the sessions we run three nights a week," said Reading Kickz coach Richard Witt.  

The event also gave young people from a range of areas and backgrounds a chance to meet and get behind the national team.

The Premier League and Football League Kickz clubs attending the game included Arsenal, Birmingham, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Portsmouth, Reading, Tottenham Hotspur and Watford.

FA Director of Football Development Sir Trevor Brooking added: “Kickz relies on strong local and national partnerships and we’re pleased that we can help give these opportunities to young people who may otherwise not get the chance to experience an international game.”

The young people were in good voice and not short of opinions on the game. The Arsenal participants singled out James Milner as their 'Man of the Match', closely followed by Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon.

Kickz originally came about following discussions between the football family and the Metropolitan Police. The programme is now centrally managed by the Football Foundation and locally delivered by football club community departments, local authorities and police safer neighbourhood teams.

More information on the programme and the partnerships behind Kickz can be found at www.footballfoundation.org.uk/our-schemes/kickz

Teams

England
1 Joe Hart (Manchester City), 2 Craig Gardner (Aston Villa), 3 Joe Mattock (Leicester City), 4 Mark Noble (West Ham United) (17 Andrew Surman (Southampton), 86), 5 Steven Taylor (c) (Newcastle United), 6 David Wheater (Middlesbrough), 7 James Milner (Newcastle United), 8 Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur) (15 Cameron Jerome (Birmingham City), 79), 9 Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), 10 Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham City), 11 Theo Walcott (Arsenal) (14 Adam Johnson (Middlesbrough), 86)
Subs not used 13 Joe Lewis (Peterborough United), 12 Michael Mancienne (QPR), 16 Luke Moore (Aston Villa), 18 Jamie O'Hara (Tottenham Hotspur)
Bookings Fabrice Muamba 19
Coach Stuart Pearce

Republic of Ireland
1 Darren Randolph (Charlton Athletic), 2 Eddie Nolan (Blackburn Rovers), 3 Stephen O’Halloran (Southampton), 4 Joe O’Cearuill (Barnet), 5 Darren O’Dea (c) (Celtic), 6 Stephen Quinn (Sheffield United) (13 Ian Morris, 83), 7 Owen Garvan (Ipswich Town),  8 John-Joe O’Toole (Watford), 9 Andy Keogh (Wolverhampton Wanderers), 10 Anthony Stokes (Sunderland) (14 Jim O’Brien (Celtic), 87), 11 Billy Clarke (Ipswich Town) (18 Adam Rooney (Chesterfield), 65)
Subs not used 16 Shane Supple (Ipswich Town), 12 Richard Keogh (Bristol City), 15 Darren Dennehy (Everton), 17 Shane McFaul
Bookings Owen Garvan 63
Coach Sean McCaffrey

Referee Jouni Hyytia (Finland)
Assistants Tiejo Kotinurmi and Jouko Ikonen (Finland)
Fourth Official Mattias Gestranius (Finland)

Attendance 31,473