Flanagan cheers on young hopefuls
Jon Flanagan attended LFC's Premier League Schools Tournament regional on Thursday at the Academy, where more than 80 young footballers were competing for the chance to represent Liverpool Football Club in the finals.
The Premier League Schools Tournament aims to increase participation in football for boys and girls, and offers schools nationwide the chance to team up with their local Premier League club.
Each of the 20 Premier League clubs stage their own regional competition to select a school to represent them in the finals, which will be held at the Etihad Stadium in May 2014.
Children from 58 schools across the city region have taken part in this year's tournament over the past four months. The remaining eight schools were invited along to the Academy to take part in the quarter-final matches, and the winning sides then progressed to the semi-final and final.
After watching the final between St Paul's school and Plantation school, Jon presented the trophy to the winning team, Plantation school, and medals to the runners-up, St Paul's school.
Liverpool FC's official mascot, Mighty Red, was also on hand to help Jon hand out the medals and certificates, and pose for photographs.
Flanagan said: "It's been great to visit the Academy again and watch all the kids enjoying their football. I was really impressed with the standard.
"Grassroots tournaments like this play an important part in encouraging youngsters to get involved in football and experience a competitive environment."
Mark Haig, head of operations at Liverpool FC Foundation, said: "Our Football and Sports Development programme engages with more than 50 schools across the city providing high quality coaching to help youngsters develop their football skills, team work, dedication and confidence."