PlayStation Tie of The Round ft. Jordan Pickford

England goalkeeper for 2018 World cup Jordan Pickford surprised pupils at North Liverpool Academy for the fourth TOTR…

The Tie of the Round (TOTR) started with pupils from the North Liverpool Academy being treated with a PlayStation gaming session.   With a variety of games available to be played, the students were spoilt for choice and eager to try as many as possible in the time that they had. The atmosphere was one of joy throughout the whole of the hall. The buzz of excitement was evident as the students eagerly walked around trying to find the perfect game for them to play.

There was a huge wave of excitement when Everton and England star Jordan Pickford entered the room as excited members of football teams cheered in disbelief.

Q&A session

A selection of lucky pupils had the unbelievable chance to ask Jordan Pickford a few questions.   It’s not every day you get the opportunity to ask questions to a Premier League player…

‘What are your memories of school football?’

‘What does it take to become a professional footballer?’

“[it takes] A lot of hard work and dedication growing up doing the right things”  

Jordan Pickford

Watch the full the interview below

Meet and Greet  

The Everton player was introduced to each individual team members of North Liverpool Academy and Kirkby High School’s football teams by their captains. It was evident to see how much it meant for the players to meet someone in the profession who has managed to create such a successful career for himself, a definite inspiration to the young aspiring footballers.

Time to get the ball rolling…

Next was the famous Premier league star v student FIFA match. Both players were vocal about their confidence in their own FIFA playing abilities and their predictions that they would win.  

Pickford chose to play as France with his opponent choosing Spain.  The match was turbulent, to say the least.  From early on the Liverpool Academy student scored ahead of Pickford, however, he was quickly able to catch up. There were several tense moments in the match with several close goals but with excellent goalkeeping skills from both Pickford and the his opponent meant that the crowd were kept on their toes throughout.

After a fantastic match, the end score was 2-2. It was evident both players were skilled at the game.

More excitement…

There was even more excitement to be had later on in the day thanks to the match between North Liverpool Academy (Liverpool) and Kirkby High School (Knowsley). Both were very strong teams but who came out on top? The pressure was on when Jordan Pickford began to spectate at the match, but it was clear that he was impressed by the performance of all those involved in the match.  Our #MatchReportMonday post covers the whole match, follow the link below to read more.    

Click here to read the match report  

Four Tie of the Rounds down and plenty more to go. There are still several Premier League footballers set to make appearances across schools all over the country. To stay up to date make sure you follow our social media and turn on post notifications for our Instagram coverage from upcoming events.