Press release 4 May 2009

PREMIER LEAGUE AND BRITISH COUNCIL LAUNCH FOOTBALL COACHING AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROJECT IN DALIAN

Premier Skills, an innovative coaching and English language development project run by the Premier League and the British Council (operating in China as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy), will today launch the first of four China based football coaching sessions in the city of Dalian.

The Dalian coaching session, run in conjunction with the Dalian Education Bureau and with the encouragement of the Dalian FA, will be led by former Premier League player Robbie Earle and will work with a number of physical education teachers from primary and secondary schools to enhance their football coaching skills. The project also has a significant English language element that has already seen 50 high school English teachers receive training in using football-related materials in their English lessons. The project aims to give participating sports and English teachers new skills that they can pass onto thousands of students in the Dalian area.

This unique training project begins this week with 6 days training at the Dalian Intermediate Comprehensive Technical School. The week ahead will see 44 physical education teachers receive football coaching training from the Premier League and learn about leadership and coaching skills, fitness, nutrition and sport event management. As such, the project strongly accords with current education trends in China focusing on ‘whole student’ development.

Participating schools include 23 primary schools and 21 secondary schools in both urban and rural areas. A quarter of the physical education teachers trained will be women.

The Dalian Education Bureau has played a key role in bringing the project to Dalian, one of China’s strongest cities for community football and the home city of former Premier League and current China star Sun Jihai.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore said:

“At home the Premier League and our clubs have a long-held commitment and reputation for investing in community and education programmes. Given our popularity and success internationally we felt it only right to take this approach to a wider community.

“It is clear to us that there is significant interest in football – and the Barclays Premier League – in China. Working with an organisation with the reputation the British Council

has, as well as top coaches like Robbie Earle, we intend to use this interest in our competition to help develop the core skills of local PE and English language teachers.”

British Council Chair, Lord Kinnock, said:

“This is a truly exciting, creative initiative. Football transcends race and language among people everywhere. By putting the British Council’s experience and global network together with the Premier League’s great know-how, we can reach countless young people and help to enhance their skills on the pitch, their self-development, and their understanding of other cultures.”

Launched in 2007, Premier Skills is a worldwide project operating in 15 countries. In China, the training project will be held in four cities - Dalian, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. Dalian is the first city in China to host the project.