Millfield Footballers crowned 2025 English School National Champions

Millfield have been crowned as the U18 England Schools Football Association (ESFA) Arnold Clark Cup Champions for 2025.

The Millfield Boy’s U18 Football First Team defeated Samuel Whitbread Academy 3-2 in an incredible final, played at EFL Championship club Stoke City’s Bet 365 Stadium.

Millfield came out on top out of 346 Teams that entered the competition this year, comprising the best state and independent football schools from around the country.

The hotly contested final was locked at 2-2 with 10 minutes to play, when a slick move from the Millfield frontline, including an expertly judged backheel from eventual Player of the Match Ricardo Thompson, was fired home by Millfield captain Leyton Collier.

Leading the Millfield team to victory was Millfield Senior Lead Coach, Assistant Head of Football, and former professional player, Scott Laird. Laird made over 500 professional appearances during a career that saw him represent clubs such as Plymouth Argyle, Preston North End and Stevenage. He said “It was a great occasion for the students, and an amazing experience for them to play at a professional stadium. For a lot of the boys, it was their last chance to play together for the school, as individuals and as friends, so I’m delighted for them to have gotten the result they deserved for a fantastic performance.”

Millfield Head of Football, Tony McCallum, said “It was a really good performance from everybody on the day, and a great match between two very good teams. We are delighted to have won back-to-back national titles with the second team winning the ‘B’ competition in 2024 and then the first team winning the cup this year. It is really pleasing for the department, and for all the players and the coaches that have worked really hard. To have players who played for the second team in the final in 2024 be part of the first team squad this year is a credit to the development environment we have at Millfield.”

Millfield School is Europe’s leading independent school for sport, and the football programme at Millfield offers provision in terms of coaching, facilities and competition on par with professional football academies. Football is the school's largest participation sport with over 300 students accessing the sport across all three school terms, from September to the end of June, through individually tailored programmes.