By Martin Lee of Bradley Stoke Youth FC (BSYFC).
Bradley Stoke Youth FC was again selected from all the FA Charter Standard Clubs in the UK and Ireland to walk around the Wembley pitch before the Community Shield match of Manchester United v Leicester City. This is the third time in three years that BSYFC have been selected and once again we were proud to be one of only seven clubs to be selected for this great experience.
BSYFC was represented by squad players from the U14 girls and the U9s. The day started at 8.45am with the coach rolling out of Bradley Stoke for arrival at Wembley for 11.45am. The journey was fine but just how many “are we nearly there yet” questions did we have to answer?
On arrival we were based in the Press Room for the majority of the day where at 12.30pm we had our first walk around the Wembley pitch as we performed the rehearsal for the main event. We had our photo taken by the main photographer out on the pitch with our BSYFC placards and the squad. Then back to the Press Room for lunch. After lunch, we had a football quiz. This highlighted just how little the management team of Scott Brown, Martin Lee and Ross Lee actually know about general football stuff. We will need to do more revising if we get selected again next year! We had our final briefing and it was time for the real thing.
We walked past the Manchester United and Leicester City changing rooms and into position in the tunnel area next to the Leicester City team, who were completing their warm up. Then we got the thumbs up to start the walk. We came out to 90,000 supporters applauding as we walked around the pitch. We got to the corner flag of the pitch then had to turn onto the pitch just behind the goal where we stood between the goal and the corner flag waving our flags. The TV camera was coming up and down filming us and we could be seen on the TV screens. At last we are famous!
The teams then came out of the tunnel with us forming a guard of honour with the flags. We then all sang the National Anthem and when the players split to come towards the goal we moved off waving our flags while walking proudly behind the massive BSYFC placard as we went. We were out on the Wembley pitch for about 20 minutes – what a great experience for the players of BSYFC.
We then rushed back to the Press Room, picked up our stuff and rushed to our seats to watch the match and to meet up with the parents.
The match was great, with Manchester United winning 2-1. Then, with the game finished we boarded the coach back to Bradley Stoke. Some did have a little snooze on the way back. We arrived back at home for 9.30pm tired but still excited after another great day out.
Many thanks to McDonald’s for selecting BSYFC for three years on the trot now. Well done to all the BSYFC squad for being great ambassadors for the club.
This article originally appeared in the September 2016 edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine, delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
Well done, a credit to the local community.