The Pembrokeshire Schools Under 11s squad recently experienced a day that they will never forget as they all got to play at the King Power Stadium, home of Leicester City F.C.

A sixteen-team tournament with every game played on the actual pitch at the 32,000 all seater stadium. Pembrokeshire Schools entered two teams into the tournament, so every member of their 22 man squad had the opportunity to play on a pitch that was graced with Premier League superstars just weeks earlier. In heatwave conditions, the boys played against teams from Liverpool, London, Oxford, Stevenage, Reading, Leicester and Devon to name just a few.

On the day, one of Pembrokeshire’s teams finished in fifth place, just missing out on the semi- finals and winning the 12-team play-off to finish in that respectable position.

Jamie Vardy has scored his fair share of goals at the stadium, but so have several young players from Pembrokeshire. Zach Loveridge (Waldo Williams) scored twice. Owain Banner (Ysgol Casmael), Ethan Holmes (Milford Haven), Jaden Petrie (Prendergast) and James Burns (Lamphey) also hitting the back of the net.

As if the football wasn’t enough, added extras included a stadium tour of the changing rooms and press room, tunnel walk, player names announced over the PA system and a Leicester City medal for every child.

Matthew Price, along with Head Coach Mikey Loveridge, Wyndham Williams and Gary Burns were proud of all of the boys and they all put Pembrokeshire on the map.

Matthew Price, who was the driving force behind the whole project commented:
“Here at Pembrokeshire Schools, we shall continue to strive to bring the best possible football experiences to these young players and plans are already in place for what we can do in 2024. However, these things do not come cheaply and on behalf of everybody at Pembrokeshire Schools, we say thank you to Minster Diesel Services, Veolia, Stena Line and Milford Haven Port Authority. The King Power Stadium experience would not have been possible without the large sponsorship of these companies”.

Ahead of the new season, the team off the pitch has been strengthened massively with the appointment of Niall Kinsella coming onto the coaching team. Niall is a former Pembrokeshire Schools player and current coach of Fishguard Sports Under 11s and he is very much looking forward to this new challenge.

Squad: Noah Bicknell GK (Prendergast) Toby Jones (Holy Name) Jamie Cook (Pembroke Dock) Bobby Davies (Fenton) Oliver Piskorski (Mary Immaculate) Cai Price (Ysgol Caer Elen) Owain Banner (Captain) (Ysgol Casmael) Ethan Holmes (Milford Haven) Logan Lewis (Pembroke Dock) Zach Loveridge (Waldo Williams) Jake Barrington (Ysgol Caer Elen)

Squad: Harri Jones GK (Holy Name) Cody James GK (St Oswald’s) Iori Williams (Ysgol Arberth) Harri Atyeo (Ysgol Caer Elen) Joe Davies (Captain) (Ysgol Glannau Gwaun) Jaden Petrie (Prendergast) Isaac Jenkins (Ysgol Arberth) Noah Evans (Fenton) Osian Mills (Ysgol Caer Elen) Kieran Bevans (Gelleswick) James Burns (Lamphey)