More than 200 young people from across England and Wales headed to St George’s Park National Football Centre to take part in the Premier League Kicks Cup.
Premier League Kicks, the Premier League’s flagship community programme, saw clubs across England and Wales run free weekly football sessions and positive activity to engage and support young people. The tournament was one of the competition elements of the programme.
Burnley FC in the Community took part in the Under-16 girls tournament for the chance to lift the 2025 Premier League Kicks Cup trophy. Teams were also awarded for showing respect throughout the tournament with Fair Play trophies presented by Premier League, English Football League and Women’s Super League match officials.
Over 800 participants representing more than 90 professional football clubs across England and Wales took part in regional qualifying tournaments earlier this year. They competed for the chance to play at the Premier League Kicks Cup finals, playing in the kit of their professional football club side.
Premier League Charitable Fund Chief Executive, Alex White, said: “For 20 years, Premier League Kicks has championed inclusion and created opportunities for young people across England and Wales. The programme has had a transformative impact, providing free access to football for more than half a million young people, right in the heart of their communities.
“By offering safe, supportive spaces to play, Premier League Kicks helped build stronger, safer communities in areas of highest need. The Premier League Kicks Cup brought this mission to life, giving young people the chance to form friendships, engage in positive experiences, and unlock their potential on and off the pitch.”
Premier League Kicks Co-ordinator, Lewis Helps told us: “It was a great experience taking our girls’ team down to St George’s Park. Opportunities like this don’t come around every day, so it was really nice to be able to offer them something different, and they loved every second.”
Premier League Kicks was set to celebrate 20 years of community impact, having begun in Season 2006/07 in partnership with the Metropolitan Police. Its aim was to involve and support young people in regular, positive and fun activity, helping to create stronger, safer, more inclusive communities.
Clubs worked with 43 territorial police forces throughout the country to tackle issues affecting young people, with regular sessions taking place in disadvantaged areas. Club charities also provided additional year-round support through the Premier League Kicks programme including mentoring, life skills advice and access to opportunities such as volunteering and social action projects to aid personal development.
Representatives from police forces, local authorities and local government joined the Premier League and Premier League Charitable Fund at the tournament to explore further opportunities to work together to support young people.
The Premier League Kicks Cup finals also supported players’ mental health and wellbeing by offering participants the opportunity to take part in a range of additional activities and workshops run by Beyond Equality.
Thanks to the Premier League’s Official Ball Supplier, PUMA, participants received a PUMA goodie pack and all fixtures across the event were played with Season 2025/26 PUMA Orbita Premier League match balls.
The Premier League was committed to providing better accessibility and more inclusivity for young female players and enhancing player development from grassroots to the professional game. Between 2022-25, the Premier League invested over £41m into women’s and girls’ football.
Within this was over £11.5m for the grassroots game including £6.3m for the FA’s network of Girls’ Emerging Talent Centres (ETCs) and £3m for the strategy behind the FA Women’s National League. The Premier League also provided wide-ranging support to women and girls through its facilities, funding and community programmes.
More than 100,000 girls and young women took part in Premier League community programmes each year and over 6,000 girls were part of the FA’s network of 70 girls’ Emerging Talent Centres.
To find out more about the Premier League’s commitment to increasing girls’ participation, please visit premierleague.com.
Visit premierleague.com for more information.