Venues & Events

The NEC scores a successful Grass Roots Football Show

Details

Category: Venues & Events

Created on Wednesday, 20 June 2012 15:43

The NEC scores a successful Grass Roots Football Show

The Grass Roots Football Show, which celebrates young and upcoming football talent, saw a 25% year on year increase from 2011 - 2012 in attendance following a successful event at the NEC, Birmingham last month.

This year’s show saw a new partnership with The Football Association and almost 15,000 members of the football family turned out to see the FA showcase a number of their youth programme initiatives including Football Mash Up and Conti Warm Up alongside partners Vauxhall and Continental respectively. The show also introduced a landmark retail partnership with kitbag.com and for the first time welcomed all 72 Football League Trust clubs to the event.

Liz Cawley, NEC Account Executive for the Grass Roots Football Show, said: “This was the fifth year that the NEC has hosted the show and the exciting new FA partnership gave visitors an opportunity to truly ‘Learn from the Pros’. The organisers took Hall 5, which gave them 30% more space than the previous year’s event and allowed them to host more activities for visitors and increased the exhibition content. The 2012 show aimed to offer football fans the chance to interact with exhibitors and had dedicated floor space set up with pitches to allow people to practice their skills within the halls. Seminars also enhanced the visitor experience with a variety of topics.”

The three days of wall-to-wall football saw former Premier League managers and players including Robbie Savage, Phil Brown, Lee Carsley and Dean Holdsworth host a number of seminars and football master classes alongside some of the best coaches in the UK.

Joanna Burns, Director of The Grass Roots Football Show, added: "We are delighted to have increased our supporter base this year and we are very excited about the future of the show. Despite the economic uncertainty the event continues to expand and being able to deliver the same level of exhibitors as in 2012 was a significant achievement. The continued success of the show will depend in part upon our ability to grow our exhibitor base.  

“The show offers a great platform for exhibitors and sponsors alike and allows them to connect directly with a growing audience of football fans over three highly interactive and engaging days of football activity. With a combination of a growing audience, supportive exhibitors and sponsors and a positive media profile we have been able to reinforce the show's position as the biggest and best of its kind in Europe. The NEC has been a superb venue for the Grass Roots Football Show and we are very grateful for their continued support.”