Splash Waterworld
Swim, slide, splash and splish until your heart's content inside Butlin's brilliant family pools.
Following a sell out year in 2023, We cant wait to return to Butlin’s Skegness to stage two fantastic ESF 2024 festivals, both of which are supported by Leicester City FC Academy Recruitment. Up to 400 grassroots girls and boys’ teams from are set to join on tour for the ultimate weekend of Football & Fun!
On top of being one of the most prestigious youth festivals in the UK, Butlin’s Skegness is without doubt one of the very best holiday resorts around. It’s the perfect combination for an action-packed tour.
2024 AVAILABILITY UPDATE (25/01/24):
19-22 April: 8 Teams Places Available - Call ASAP to book!
3-6 May: 6 Teams Places Available - Call ASAP to book!
The amazing Splash Waterworld is packed with flumes, rides and slides, it’s always a firm favourite for the kids and adults alike. There’s also a variety of live shows, tribute acts, live bands and discos, so your team will enjoy some amazing family entertainment, at no extra cost! If you’re looking for extra thrills, you can pay a small extra charge for activities like the High Ropes, with the excitement of the ‘leap of faith’, Climbing Wall, Go Karts, Quasar, Adventure Golf, Ten Pin Bowling and much more!
Read MoreYour party are assured of a comfortable stay in a choice of accommodation including new Fairground and Seaside Apartments which are beautifully decorated modern family apartments.
Butlin’s Dining Plans always prove to be extremely popular with our teams. There’s a wide selection of choices available and you can go back for seconds as many times as you like – perfect for hungry young footballers! The dining times are scheduled so they don’t clash with your fixtures and you’ll save 20% by booking in advance compared to the on-resort price. There’s also the Firehouse Grill, Ludo’s Italian, Rock & Sole fish and chips, Beachcomber Inn and the new American-style Diner on resort.
Read MoreOur presentation ceremonies are a the perfect way to close the festival in style. Every child will receive a quality award as a memento of the festival and there are special awards in addition for the winners, runners up and fair play winners in each age group. Kevin Keegan, Paul Merson, Jordan Nobbs, Faye White, Ray Parlour, stuart Pearce and Casey Stoney have joined us as special guests at ESF at Butlin’s Skegness in recent years!
Early registration is recommended to secure your team place at ESF 2024 at Butlin’s Skegness, call 01664 566360 to reserve your team place today!
There's a fantastic range of facilities at Butlin's to keep everyone entertained while you're on tour.
Swim, slide, splash and splish until your heart's content inside Butlin's brilliant family pools.
Go round, up, down, spin and whizz through the air in Butlin's fairgrounds.
When the football stops the fun continues! There's a fantastic range of facilities on resort at Butlin's.
Live shows, tribute acts, discos and more will keep everyone entertained throughout the weekend.
There's a great range of places to eat & drink, with Half Board meal packages also available.
Accommodation prices are per person for the weekend (Fri, Sat & Sun night), including Butlin's entertainment passes and ESF 2024 wristbands.
19 - 22 Apr 2024:£109pp - £149pp
3 - 6 May 2024:£139pp - £179pp
Kevin Keegan, Paul Merson, Jordan Nobbs, Faye White, Ray Parlour, Stuart Pearce & Casey Stoney have joined us as special guests.
Win your age section at ESF 2024 in Skegness to qualify for the ESF Grand Finale at St Georges Park!
Every child will receive a quality award as a memento of the festival and there are special awards for the winners, runners up and fair play winners in each age group.
Your team will feel like they’re in the Premier League with live fixture updates in the ESF App.
5-a-side: Max squad size = 10 players
7-a-side: Max squad size = 14 players
9-a-side: Max squad size = 16 players
£129 per 5-a-side team
£159 per 7-a-side team
£189 per 9-a-side team
OR Club Registration Fee (unlimited teams) = £399
ESF 2024 Early Booking Offer
Register before 31 August 2023 and save 50% on the Registration Fees above
Friday: No football is played on the day of arrival, so teams can relax and get settled into accommodation and enjoy the evening’s entertainment. Check in for accommodation is from 4pm, but you can arrive on resort from 1pm. A briefing meeting for Group Leaders & Coaches will take place on Friday evening.
Saturday & Sunday: There’s an electric atmosphere around the pitches as the action starts and ESF kicks off. All teams will play group stage matches on both days. Where required, knock out matches will take place following the group stages. Teams should expect to play 5 – 8 games over the weekend, depending on the festival format and how for the team progress in the festival. The ESF celebrity presentation ceremonies will take place on the Sunday afternoon/evening.
Monday: No football is played on the Monday. Teams therefore have the option of travelling home on the Sunday evening or Monday. Check Out is 10am on Monday but you do not have to leave the resort until Midday.
You will be allocated one ESF 2024 wristband for each member of your party booked through ESF Events. Please be aware that people without a wristband will not be able to participate in the festival, attend the presentation ceremony or enter evening entertainment venues at the holiday centres.
A full final briefing email will be sent to the Group Leaders of all participating teams 7-10 days before the festival takes place. The final briefing will include fixtures, schedules and the festival rules, which have been sanctioned by the appropriate National Football Association. At this stage, the ESF App will also go live displaying all festival fixtures and schedules.
ESF is a festival for grassroots teams of all abilities. All teams must be affiliated to a County, Area or School Football Association. Centre of Excellence and Academy teams affiliated to professional clubs and ‘representative’ sides are not permitted to enter ESF 2024. Please contact ESF Events before registering if you have any questions regarding the eligibility of your team(s).
In accordance with FA rules, boys who are currently registered with an FA Premier League or Football League Academy are not permitted to participate in ESF 2024.
In accordance with FA rules, girls who are registered with a Regional Talent Club are permitted to participate in ESF 2024, providing they are currently a registered player for the team participating in ESF 2024, and they have approval from the RTC to participate in grassroots football. Please note, girls registered with a Regional Talent Club cannot participate in ESF 2024 as a ‘Guest Player’.
Please contact ESF Events if you have any questions regarding the eligibility of any of your players.
Age Group | Born on or after | Born before |
---|---|---|
U14 | 1 Sep ’09 | 1 Sep ’11 |
U13 | 1 Sep ’10 | 1 Sep ’12 |
U12 | 1 Sep ’11 | 1 Sep ’13 |
U11 | 1 Sep ’12 | 1 Sep ’14 |
U10 | 1 Sep ’13 | 1 Sep ’15 |
U9 | 1 Sep ’14 | 1 Sep ’16 |
U8 | 1 Sep ’15 | 1 Sep ’17 |
U7 | 1 Sep ’16 | 1 Sep ’17* |
*In accordance with FA rules, once a player has turned 6 years of age they will be permitted to participate in the U7 age section at ESF 2024.
Teams are permitted to register a maximum of two ‘guest players’ for the festival. ‘Guest players’ are players who are not currently registered with your club. They must produce documentary evidence to your club secretary to prove that they are the correct age and they must bring these documents with them to the festival.
Every child who participates receives a high quality award as a memento of ESF. In addition, in each age section there are superb individual and team awards for the Winners, Runners-Up and Fair Play winners, as well as prestigious honours, including the ESF Fair Play Awards, the Magic Moment Awards and Player of the Tournament Awards.
PLEASE NOTE: The FAW have previously stated that all teams from Wales in the U7-U11 age groups must participate on a non-competitive basis, in line with FAW regulations. The FAW may also stipulate this for ESF 2024. If so, U7 – U11 teams from Wales can participate in the Group Stages of the festival, playing games on the Saturday & Sunday, but they cannot progress to the Playoff Stages (Semi Final & Final) on the Sunday afternoon.
Teams from the local area where the festivals are staged are permitted to apply for entry by returning the Team Registration Form. However, we cannot guarantee a place in the festival until the numbers of touring teams are finalised in each age group. At this stage, if additional teams are required in a given age group for the good of the festival, applications from local teams will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis.
Please note: If you have any queries or any other information regarding any of the tournament information detailed above, please call 01664 566360 or email us here at ESF Events.
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