Last week saw the start of the first Retro Football Week at Park to Pro, with players attending, to take a step back in time.

First up was a visit to the 1970’s and specifically to the World Cup final, where we looked at the outstanding performances of many previous greats, such as Pele, Carlos Alberto and Rivelino. Next was a visit to the 1980’s where we looked at a UEFA Cup final between AC Milan and Steaua Bucharest. There were so many past greats involved with this game, it would be unfair to single out players! If you haven’t already done so, check out the line ups for this game…..

The long awaited visit to the 90’s took place on Wednesday, with the focus on past greats such as Gazza, Maldini, Kluivert, plus many, many more. The attention for the games shifted to the Champions League final of 1999 and the all time classic of France vs Brazil at France 98’!! The players loved looking at all of these past players and games, with lots of love for the ‘original’ Ronaldo!

Finally, we looked at many famous games and players from 2000 onwards, including the 2005 Champions League final between AC Milan vs Liverpool, and Man Utd vs Barcelona (both occasions!)

While the above got lots of attention, there was additional focus on memorabilia and kits from the mentioned eras. This gave some real substance to what we were talking about and there was also an opportunity to look at shirts, from the greats that were mentioned.

With over 150 shirts (originals, match worn and match issue), there was plenty for the players to look at and a good opportunity to educate them on different areas, such as fakes vs originals, culture, colour and style.

The next instalment of the Retro Football events is taking place in a few weeks time, Monday 22nd August – Friday 26th August. The theme is staying the same, but the focus will be on other tournaments, players and games.

Adam said; “The purpose of these courses is to educate children about the past moments of the game we all love and alongside this, have some original memorabilia that can align with what our focus was. The conversations and interactions were excellent throughout the week, with many contributing in more ways than one. As the week progressed you naturally saw children coming armed with even more facts/stats, which pushed the level of interest even higher.

My personal highlights throughout the week, were looking and talking about some classic shirts, which then drew plenty of interest for the players to explore further.

Seeing interest grow in some all time greats was lovely to see and I’m glad the participants all took something away. I’m very much looking forward to the August edition and what the children bring to the table”.