1 October 2007
VIDEO: The FA Roadshow at WBA

Brian Barwick, Steve McClaren and Sir Trevor Brooking were at West Brom for The FA's inaugural roadshow.


The FA hit the road on Monday, to head to West Bromwich Albion's Hawthorns home for a day to showcase the work done at grassroots level. 

An afternoon coaching session was followed by an opportunity for local football supporters to quiz Chief Executive Brian Barwick, England Head Coach Steve McClaren and Director of Football Development Trevor Brooking in an evening 'question and answer session'.

For the inaugural roadshow, 60 pupils from Glebefields Primary School and Moat Farm Primary School in Sandwell were treated to separate training sessions with five of The FA's Skills Coaches, part of The FA Tesco Skills Programme which has been launched nationwide to improve technical ability within the 5-11 age group in a positive, fun environment, led by 66 specialised coaches.

Former England international and Liverpool star Mark Walters and former England Women's ace Marianne Spacey were among the coaches in attendance, with Iklaq Hussain, Jim Haarhoff, Alex Bedford and Jim McGettrick completing the collection of West Midlands based Skills Coaches.

The youngsters were then taken on two separate coaching sessions in the Albion Academy's indoor facility, incorporating small sided games, skill challenges all under the watchful eye of the Skills Coaches and Steve McClaren and Sir Trevor Brooking.

Speaking about the event, Chief Executive Brian Barwick said: "We're delighted to be here for what is the first of many FA roadshows and to be at a facility such as this is tremendous.

"The FA Tesco Skills Programme will give one million children by 2010 the opportunity to play football, improve their ability and get confidence in their game."

McClaren was also suitably impressed by what was on show and added: "I fully endorse what The FA are doing around the country.

"It's about the future of the England national team and initiatives like this are invaluable for the future."

The FA Tesco Skills Programme was the brainchild of Sir Trevor Brooking and he was delighted to see the early success and enjoyment on the faces of the local children.

"We feel there is a big gap in the 5-11 age group and The FA Tesco Skills Programme can introduce them to skills and the opportunity to play the game and get better.

"It's a key stage in the development of any footballer and we need to get our youngsters up and running and learning at this time."

After the skills session had finished, around 150 fans from the seven local clubs converged on The Richardson Suite at The Hawthorns for a question and answer session with FA officials and there will be more details of this later on TheFA.com