Spanish top-flight league La Liga has continued its partnership with Bloomsbury Football to support growth within youth football in the UK.
Now in its third year, La Liga clubs and Bloomsbury Football will collaborate to engage more than 5,000 youths in London each week to deliver tournaments designed to inspire the next-generation of football talent.
La Liga will also contribute to upskilling members of the Bloomsbury Football team through training focused on promoting the positive values of football and their application in daily life and leveraging sport as a tool for social inclusion. Growing access to football is a key focus for the project and 45 boys and girls will be awarded with financial scholarships to enable them to participate in the programme.
Keegan Pierce, Director of International Relations at La Liga, said: “This partnership has already done so much to encourage more players to enter into the Bloomsbury ecosystem, and we are so pleased to be partnering again for the 2024/25 season.
“With so much growth year on year as well as the support from so many clubs, we hope to continue to give back to our community here in London, while also inspiring young LALIGA fans and increasing the fan engagement with Spanish football.”
This season’s programme will feature up to 16 La Liga teams, including Athletic Club, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla FC and Valencia FC, to name a few. These clubs will provide local boys and girls their shirts to take part in the programme.
Underlining the partnership’s growth year-on-year, CVC, through the CVC Foundation, a network-wide philanthropy programme, has also stepped up to offer support for the programme starting in 2024/25.
This season will feature two mixed weekend tournaments across two North London locations, up from one in previous seasons, plus a girls-only competition through a collaboration with local schools as part of both organisations’ ongoing commitment to grow the women’s game.
Charlie Hyman, CEO of Bloomsbury, added: “Our shared confidence in the power of football to change young people’s lives makes this partnership thrive. I am delighted to work with La Liga to continue creating memorable experiences filled with excitement, learning and personal growth.
“Going forward this season, we will continue to ensure that our sessions are accessible to all, and I strongly believe that we can help make anything possible for these young footballers.”
