From the success of the first season as The FA Schools Partner, we have expanded our programme and have teamed up with The Independent as a partner of the free Fantasy Football competition for secondary schools across the country. It is a great opportunity for pupils and teachers to compete against each other to become the overall winner of the league and E.ON is giving a pair of VIP tickets to The FA Cup Final to the winner so there is all to play for.

With a network of 16,000 colleagues across the country, we are keen to give them the opportunity to get involved and give them some skills which they can take back and use in their local communities. We have a range of initiatives for colleagues to support their local schools and communities and we are keen to get them involved with our initiatives.

The FA Schools Programme

An important part of The FA Cup sponsorship portfolio is The FA Schools Programme which helps us support our local communities and demonstrate our commitment to them.

The FA Schools Programme aims to support youngsters of all ages to be inspired by football. There are many aspects of the Programme, some which are managed by The FA with support from E.ON and others which are E.ON-owned initiatives.

We will be supporting The FA to create a complimentary educational resource for primary school teachers, which will be sent to 18,000 Primary Schools at the start of term.

We are also helping The FA to incentivise primary schools to attain Charter Standard status. This is an accreditation awarded to schools who attain certain standards in football.

The FA Young Leaders Programme empowers youngsters aged 16-18 to develop their leadership skills and encourage them into a career in the game. These skills can be taken back to benefit their local communities.

As The FA Schools Partner, we launched the inaugural E.ON National FA Cup Schools Day which took place on 24 April 2007. This saw 300,000 primary school children take part in bespoke FA Cup lessons designed to educate them using the history, tradition and excitement of the competition. Primary schools across the UK were able to participate in the celebration both within their school and at local football festivals organised by County FAs for Charter Standard schools.

With football legends Alan Shearer and Tony Adams supporting the campaign, the interest was so great that this season we plan to grow E.ON National FA Cup Schools Day to reach over 500,000 children in 2008.

More information will be sent early in 2008 to primary schools wishing to take part in E.ON National FA Cup Schools Day.