Bringing the magic of the FA Cup and Community Shield to South London Schools
“An experience we’ll remember for a long time.” – Ben, a passionate Palace supporter, shared that he was so excited about the FA Cup visit that he couldn’t sleep the night before!
Our aim is simple. We use the power of football and our club, Crystal Palace, to improve lives and build stronger communities, with a focus on young people from under-supported groups who need us most.
As part of our commitment to the community, we teamed up with Palace to showcase the FA Cup and Community Shield to schools in South London.
We visited 8,280 pupils in 15 schools: Oasis Ryelands, St Chads, Kensington Avenue, Purley Oaks and Tweeddale primary schools, alongside Meridian, Sedgehill, Oasis Arena, Oasis Shirley Park, Harris East Dulwich Boys and Coloma Secondary Schools and Oasis St Martins venues: Corpus-Christi, Fenstanton and Jubilee.
These are all partner schools, where we regularly deliver our primary and secondary education programmes. You can find out more here.
The students’ reactions say it all, showing just how much these two trophies mean and why we wanted to share them with them.
Here are a few of their thoughts:
Year 6: “I enjoyed it because I bought my flag (that I took to the actual matches at Wembley), which the Crystal Palace Staff loved, and I got a close-up of the FA Cup and the Community Shield.”
Year 7: “It was amazing to see the real trophies! I’ve only ever seen them on TV before, so this was a day I’ll never forget.”
Year 8: “Palace for Life gives us so many exciting opportunities it was really inspiring to learn more about the history behind the cups!”
Year 9: “I was so impressed by how much hard work goes into achieving something like this. It motivated me to work harder toward my own goals.”
Year 10: “Experiencing this together as a school was really special. Thank you to Palace for Life and Mrs Anderson, Mrs Curd and Mr Greenidge for making it happen!”
Year 11: “This day reminded us how important teamwork and dedication are just like in football. An experience we’ll remember for a long time.” – Ben, a passionate Palace supporter, shared that he was so excited about the FA Cup visit that he couldn’t sleep the night before. The experience clearly meant a great deal to him and left a lasting impression.
See below some of the wholesome pictures of the visits 👇