English Schools' Football Association

The English Schools' Football Association was founded in 1904 and is the governing body of schools' football in England. It is responsible for the running and development of schools competitions and festivals at primary and secondary school age. The ESFA headquarters is in Stafford. The Football Association (FA) works with ESFA to support high quality, coordinated inter school football competition programmes for all young people. The association run national competitions from under-11 to under-19 age groups. This provides opportunities for young people to have the experience of playing at a higher level by representing their schools in a national recognised competition with all of the finals taking place at professional stadia. In the last few seasons, the ESFA has had finals at the Etihad Stadium, Old Trafford, Anfield, Stamford Bridge, Craven Cottage, Goodison Park, the Hawthorns and even Wembley Stadium. The ESFA's centenary year was in 2004. England Schoolboys v Rest of World was played at Aston Villa F.C. to celebrate this. The game saw over 10,000 spectators attend. England Schoolboys and England Schoolgirls The ESFA also co-ordinate the advancement of players all the way to International level, for England Schoolboys (Under 18) and England Schoolgirls (Under 15) teams. The process for representation follows this pattern; School teams nominate the best few players to go forward for County (or District) trials, from these a County team is formed. The County Schools' Associations will then nominate players to go forward to regional (North, Midlands, South West, South East) trials and from these players an International squad is selected.