Through the ESFA and Panini’s ongoing partnership, in late 2021, primary schools in England were invited to register to receive some PREMIER LEAGUE OFFICIAL STICKER COLLECTION 2022 goodies for their school, including worksheets with a competition to design a football boot. The competition prize was set at a fantastic £2,000 cash for the winning school, plus a £50 Amazon voucher and a football shirt for the winning pupil. To top it all off, winners also receive the option of a presentation assembly for their school pupils.
Following a difficult judging process across a staggering 10,000+ entries – the largest number ever received for a Classroom Challenge – the ESFA and Panini are delighted to announce that St Gilbert’s RC Primary School in Manchester produced the winning entry, thanks to Oliver from year 6.
The ESFA judges were delighted with the quality of entries submitted from all participating schools and found the level of work that went into each of them was impressively high. As such, they have published the other nine shortlisted entries below because each one is noteworthy, given the work and effort that has gone into every design.
Beatrice from Sandwich Junior School was honoured with third place with her Winnie the Pooh based design and Reshmi from Revoe Learning Academy in Blackpool was placed in second with their striking boot design.
This has been the most hotly contested Classroom Challenge to date, with the highest number of entries yet. It has been a pleasure for the ESFA and Panini to see the popularity of the Classroom Challenge continue to grow within schools in England with each new competition launch.
Nick Clark, Special Projects Editor for Panini UK, said: “We were so impressed to see over 10,000 entries from schools participating in the Classroom Challenge competition to design a football boot. The level of detail and creativity of the submissions was outstanding – a big well done to all those children who sent in their amazing creations. Congratulations to our winner, Oliver from St Gilbert’s RC Primary School, for creating such a clever, well thought-out design. We look forward to presenting both Oliver and the school with their prizes soon.”
Mark Hignett, ESFA Chairman said: “The ESFA is delighted to continue to bring the Classroom Challenge into primary schools in England. It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to encourage the creativity of pupils, whilst also providing them with Panini collections and worksheets to further their interest and knowledge of football on a wider scale. The Classroom Challenge entries to design a football boot have been incredible, we have been blown away by the scale of entries and also the creativity that has gone into each and every one. I would like to congratulate Oliver on their winning design and look forward to seeing their presentation later on this season.”
Take a look at the rest of the shortlisted designs below:
The ESFA would like to thank Oliver and all the pupils from St Gilbert’s RC Primary School, plus all the other competing schools, for taking the time to enter this competition, and for providing such fantastic examples of artistic design by young students.
The National Governing Body for Schools’ Football in England.