The club are set to welcome over 100 guests from Christ the King for the League One clash against the Saddlers...
Coventry City will be welcoming over 100 special guests to the League One encounter with Walsall this Saturday (Feb 1).
Local club Christ the King FC will be taking around 60 children and over 50 adults to the game as part of a group booking and all of the youngsters will have an important part to play in the pre-match action.
The children will enjoy a range of roles – from player escorts and flag bearers to announcing the players’ names over the tannoy.
Christ the King is one of the biggest junior clubs in Europe and has seen the likes of City midfielder Conor Thomas make it professionally and Arsenal Academy starlet Daniel Crowley make national headlines.
As well as that, the club helps coaches by contributing towards the FA coaching badges for their unpaid volunteers. Some of the volunteers have been involved with the club for over 40 years, with club Chairman Brad Thompson – committed to the club for over 25 years – continuing to work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the club running properly.
One of the volunteers is under-sevens team manager Lee Connor who has been helping with the club for two years, and he is delighted that the youngsters have the opportunity to be part of the pre-match preparations.
“We’ve got around 60 children going to the game, between the ages of four and ten, and it’s really good that we’ve got such a good number,” Lee said.
“They will be doing all sorts. Everyone will be given the chance to take part and it should make it a really memorable day. They are all really excited about it already.
“It will be such a good experience for the kids – and the adults too!
“We are one of the biggest clubs in Europe in terms of teams. We have five teams at under-sevens and between 45 and 50 kids. We’ve got three or four teams for every age right up to men’s football so we’re a big club and a big community. It would be hard to find anyone elsewhere with that amount of teams.
“We’ve had some players come through our ranks now at top clubs. We’ve had Conor Thomas, obviously, and Daniel Crowley who went to play for Villa and now Arsenal.
“The youngsters are really inspired when they hear stories like Conor’s and Daniel’s and it is a great thing which not only makes the club stand out but adds extra motivation for the kids.
“But junior football is about much more than that – it’s about bringing youngsters together as part of a team and days out like this are all part of that.”
Tickets are available for the League One clash with the Saddlers, with Standard Zone prices at £16 for adults and £11 concessions, while juniors can sit in the same area for £8.
Tickets for under-sevens are £4 in the Standard Zone, while JSBs (over seven) are priced at £4 or just £2 if they are under-seven.
Meanwhile in the Family Zone, adults are £13, JSBs are £3 and JSBs under-seven are free.
Tickets can be bought in advance from the CCFC Superstore at Gallagher Retail Park, by visiting www.ccfcshop.co.uk or by calling 024 7699 2326 or 024 7699 2327. They can also be bought on the day of the game at Sixfields Stadium.