On Saturday the 9th of March 30 pupils from S1-S5 and 3 staff members departed Strathaven Academy heading south for an overnight school football trip. The bus left Strathaven Academy at 5:45am in order to beat the traffic and saw our pupils arrive at Ewood Park for the first of two matches. This was Blackburn’s home league fixture against Preston North End. Before the match our pupils were able to visit the club shop, meet the mascot’s of each team and enjoy the game room experience which was provided by Blackburn. Preston scored the only goal of the game very early on directly in front of our visiting pupils.
Shortly after the game we were back on the move again. This time heading for the Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City. Upon arrival we were then welcomed in to the Manchester City Academy Experience. This included activities such as bubble football; beat the goalie; obstacle courses and also allowed our pupils the opportunity to have their photo taken with Manchester City’s current trophies.
From there we made our way into the stadium and got seated for kick off. Manchester City were playing Watford in a Premier League clash. The match finished 3-1 to Manchester City after an electrifying start to the second half from Raheem Sterling, scoring 3 goals right in front of our seats. After the match we were transferred to our hotel for the night, had dinner and completed our Premier League football quiz.
The next morning we had another early rise for breakfast and check out. This was followed by a trip back to the Etihad Stadium, this time for the stadium tour. Our pupils were taken all around the stadium, including getting to go pitch side and of course see the famous circular dressing room that the Manchester City players use before every home game. From here the pupils were given time at the club shop before we were on route to the Trafford Centre for some lunch and shopping. After having some food and free time we were then back on the road again and arrived back at Strathaven Academy not long after 6pm.
Our pupils and staff would like to thank Mr Fleming for organising and overseeing the trip, everyone involved had an amazing, fun filled weekend.