Craig Bellamy Foundation League Launches This Saturday, January 7th

Press Release - 02.01.12

Calling all football fans!

This coming Saturday, January 7th, the Craig Bellamy Foundation League for the country’s top young football stars will launch its 2012 season in Freetown, Makeni, Kenema and Bo.

Bellamy, the Liverpool FC player, has been making some attention-grabbing performances for his club over the past couple of weeks. However, while fans of the Premier League are appreciating his professional efforts, it is the followers and young players of football in Sierra Leone who will, this Saturday, gain most directly from Bellamy’s work.

The Craig Bellamy Foundation, which runs the country’s only residential football academy alongside the national League, has had two successful years of football and community development in Sierra Leone. The League provides an opportunity for the youth of the country to compete in professionally-organised football matches and to contribute more to their communities.

National League Manager, Pete Beeley emphasizes that “the league is not just about great football matches. It reaches further goals through an innovative points-scoring system based on four key priorities. By gaining league points through school attendance, community projects, fair play and match results the players learn the true meaning of teamwork, both on and off the pitch”. 

The League has been backed by UNICEF, and stars of the world game such as Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand have publicly voiced their support. With such a huge global profile, fans in Freetown, Makeni, Kenema and Bo have spent the last few months gearing up for the start of the League this Saturday which promises to be a fantastic event.

Kick-off times:

Freetown:     11am at Stadium Practising Pitch
        2pm at Approved School Field

Makeni:        9am at Bishop Comforti
        11am at the Pastoral Centre

Kenema:        2pm at KDC Field
        4pm at KDC Field

Bo        10am at Pastoral Centre
        2pm New Police Barracks

The Craig Bellamy Foundation looks forward to welcoming all football fans to the exciting first matches of the 2012 season of the League!