Wolves and West Brom youngsters show fans how it's done ahead of Black Country derby
Young supporters of the Black Country's two biggest football clubs have shown fans how it's done as they united together ahead of the big derby clash.
The Wolves Foundation and the Albion Foundation put on a show of unity ahead of Sunday's FA Cup fourth round showdown with a community event supporting young people and giving them them opportunities to engage in sport.
The event on Friday was run in conjunction with the Premier League Kicks project, which provides young people with access to free weekly football sessions and education workshops in safe and supportive community environments through clubs in the Premier League, English Football League and National League.
89 clubs are involved, including Wolves and Albion, and the event gave 14 participants from each foundation an opportunity to meet up and engage in an evening of friendly rivalry, games of football and much more.
Held at WV Active Aldersley, the event saw a workshop in the first hour with the West Midlands Police football unit where the youngsters learned about respect and heard about the officers experiences within the game.
Following that, they headed out into the Wolves Foundation area for a series of matches, with the emphasis on friendly rivalry among the two clubs.
Wolves Foundation communications officer Scott Brotherton said the FA Cup game, which is the first time the clubs have clashed since 2021 and in front of fans since 2012, was the perfect opportunity to do a joint event and enjoy football together.
He said: "Ourselves and the Albion Foundation deliver a lot of activities for young people around engaging them and giving them opportunities to play sport and we just thought that with the Black Country derby being such a big event in the area, it was a nice opportunity to come together and do a joint event.
"We may support different teams and there's a friendly rivalry, but we're all football fans at the end of the day and we want to enjoy football, so the kids will come to the sessions to play and enjoy football.
"If we can get them involved with each other and have a series of friendly matches against each other and enjoy themselves, then it's a nice thing to do ahead of the game."
Mr Brotherton said the event was not going to be a one-off event and was going to be part of numerous sessions between the two clubs, as well as other football clubs, and also said that while there will be banter, it would be friendly banter for the love of the game.
He said: "There will be a bit of banter, but it's all friendly rivalry and we can dust ourselves down afterwards and just enjoy the game of football together.
"We deliver all sorts of sessions and there's a lot of engagement with other Premier League clubs in terms of travelling to the clubs and the games give youngsters a chance to have opportunities they normally wouldn't be able to get.
"It's all about helping young people have opportunities and the chance to try things and enjoy things that we offer as a foundation and I know the Albion Foundation does the same."
The event comes as West Midlands Police has said it was planning for a smooth event and for everyone to be able to enjoy the match.
The force said they are working with both clubs and local venues to make sure there is "as little disruption as possible".
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "The local derby between WBA and Wolves will be attended by a large number of supporters of both teams and we want to ensure everyone enjoys the match.
"There will be large numbers of supporters meeting up and travelling from various locations across the Black Country and further afield to The Hawthorns, and we are working to make sure this happens smoothly and with as little disruption as possible to transport pubs and bars, and local residents."
