Students at Everton Football College began their Guinness World Record attempt on Thursday for the longest running five-a-side match.
The youngsters, who will continue playing until just before Everton's Premier League game against Manchester United on Sunday, are raising funds for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Dallas Cup and Everton in the Community’s People’s Place campaign.
The group of players, aged 17 and 18, kicked off their 72-hour world record attempt on Thursday afternoon, with the final whistle set to blow at 1pm on Sunday.
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Everton Football College is located on the edge of the Kirkdale ward in an area of intense social deprivation. More than a third of the players looking to take part in the Dallas Cup fall into the lowest deprivation bracket of the country’s population.
The Football College is open to any students aged 16-19 and attracts those who choose to study sport within the environment and surroundings of a Premier League football club at Spellow Lane, the Jericho Lane Football Hub and Vauxhall Motors Football Club.
John Keegan, Everton Football College curriculum coordinator, said: “We are dedicated to providing students with the skills, experience and qualifications needed to succeed in the sports industry.
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"We are also dedicated, however, to providing our students with memories and experience that will develop them as an individual.
"By giving our students - many of whom have never even been abroad before - the opportunity to represent the Football College across the Atlantic gives these youngsters an unbelievable opportunity.”
Students from Everton Football College took part in the Dallas Cup 2019, with 38 players representing the college in under-18s and under-19s teams. This year’s competition will see 56 players from Everton in attendance, fielding three teams – under-17s, under-18s and under-19s.
And, in addition to collecting vital funds to see them on the road to Dallas, the 16 students are also fundraising for The People’s Place, a proposed mental health facility to be built just 500 metres away from Goodison Park.
Kyle, an Everton Football College student who is taking part in the epic five-a-side match, said: “It was really important for us as a group to raise funds so that we can fulfil a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent Everton Football College in America, but to also do our bit and raise funds for a really important cause in The People’s Place.”
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