By By Premier League Primary Stars · Fri 05 June 2026
As 60 school teams head to Molineux for this week's Premier League Primary Stars Football Tournament, find out how the Premier League programme is making an impact across England and Wales
This week, hundreds of schoolchildren will have an experience they will never forget when they take part in the latest Premier League Primary Stars Football Tournament.
Sixty mixed and girls' school teams representing football club charities from the Premier League, English Football League and National League will play in two days of competition at Molineux Stadium, the home of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Having come through regional qualifiers for the right to represent their local club, the teams will experience life as a Premier League footballer for a day.
They will wear first-team kit, play in matches officiated by top-flight referees as well as following in the footsteps of their Premier League heroes by competing on a Premier League pitch.
On day one last year it was Newcastle United's Valley Gardens Middle School who claimed victory in the under-11 girls' competition while Wolfson Hillel Primary School won the mixed title for Tottenham Hotspur.
The second day is the Premier League Primary Stars Girls' Football Tournament, and last year the title went to Willows Primary School representing Altrincham FC Community Sports.
"The main message they will get from this is the belief that they can achieve whatever they want to achieve if they put their minds to it," said Andrew Jones, Premier League Primary Stars head coach at Altrincham FC Community Sports, as his team lifted the trophy.
"They're intelligent, they're inquisitive, they can do whatever they want to do, and that's what is great about this Premier League event."
As well as the football on the pitch, the tournament is a celebration of the work that Premier League Primary Stars does to inspire and support primary school pupils all year round.
"It is a programme we stumbled across a few years ago and it's changed us as a community," added Jones. "It's changing lives. The fact that it's not just the Premier League clubs that get the funding is so important.
"The amount of lives that it touches is incredible. I get to see it first hand going into schools. The amount of happy faces I see and the amount of sessions that I get to do, it's just an incredible experience for me and for them."
Premier League Primary Stars, which began in 2017, is now delivered by 104 football club charities with more than 19,400 primary schools having taken part to date.
"The Premier League Primary Stars impact has been quite significant within our schools," said Kelly Rees, head of education and employability at Wycombe Wanderers Foundation. "We've seen an increase in mental well-being, physical well-being and a lot around confidence.
"It's a really great opportunity to use the power of the badge and use the power of football to make a significant difference."
05/06/2026
05/06/2026
05/06/2026
05/06/2026