On Thursday 6th August two under 10s teams from Urmston Meadowside (boys and girls) realised a "once in a lifetime" dream by playing (and winning) at Wembley.
The day got off to a very early start with the coach leaving Urmston at 04:00. We arrived at Northwick Park (close to Wembley) at 09:30 and then proceeded to play a number of friendlies against other teams from around the country. This was all part of the McDonalds National Football Festival. There were also coaching areas and inflatables set up for the youngsters to have-a-go on. There were coaching sessions run by Eric Harrison (ex Man United youth coach) who is now head of coaching at McDonalds.
At 13:45 we got back on to the coach for the short trip to Wembley Stadium and the atmosphere on board grew as the now famous arch came into sight.

Once inside the stadium the teams were led out through the players tunnel into the home of football. After a group photo involving almost 1000 young players the first teams were led onto the pitch (pausing on the way to meet and have a photo taken with the legend that is Sir Geoff Hurst.)

Both the boys and the girls team won their respective games on the hallowed turf in front of 2,500 screaming parents and family members; and for the boys team this topped off a fine day which had seen them concede no goals at all throughout the day.The teams were then led up to the royal box where all the players received a commemorative medal.

Playing at Wembley is an honour that many professional players never experience so for the youngsters and coaches involved, it will be a memory to cherish. All in all a fantastic day out and an experience that will no doubt be handed down through future generations as we can all say "We were there!"