Kids to get business lessons at Premier League clubs
Thousands of schoolchildren to learn enterprise skills from Premier League clubs
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Friday, 14, Mar 2008 10:51
Two more Premier League clubs have signed up to a government scheme to teach business enterprise skills to schoolchildren in England and Wales.
Aston Villa and Manchester City have joined Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers in pledging to share their expertise on football enterprise to thousands of 13 to 14-year-olds.
Prime minister Gordon Brown has already expressed his intention for all 20 clubs in England's top flight to sign off on the scheme.
He explained the football setting could "introduce young people to the realities of the world of business in a way they relate to".
"The next Alan Sugar, Peter Jones or Karren Brady might end up starting their own business through a love of football," the prime minister continued.
"Over the next few years we are going to work with the Premier League and football clubs around the country to harness the talent of youngsters everywhere. Middlesbrough FC and Blackburn Rovers have already done some brilliant work offering business skills to young people, and I hope that other clubs follow suit."
During the enterprise sessions, schoolchildren learn firsthand how the clubs operate as a business and market their products and services.
Incentives such as player visits or match tickets are also offered as incentives to the most successful pupils.
Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League, said England's top clubs had a "unique opportunity to be able to influence and educate".
"The world of business and enterprise is an example of how a subject, when linked to how a football club operates, is suddenly made that bit more interesting," he said.