Liverpool Football Club is the most successful English football team, having won 5 European Cups and 18 league (English Premier League, formerly First Division) titles amongst a record 40 major honours. Great players from the past include Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush, through to the modern era of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

Each of Harlequin’s resorts will feature a Liverpool FC Soccer School which will provide training and coaching programmes for both adults and children aged 5 and above in an environment where everyone will be given the opportunity to play football to the best of their ability, with encouragement and training to develop the skills necessary to enjoy the game at whatever level they wish to play. Coaching sessions will be interactive, challenging and fun.

The programmes will teach the fundamental techniques of the game and show players how to develop their ball skills, focussing on the tactical, physical, mental and social elements of the game. Whilst developing players as individuals, the coaching will also encourage players to work as a team both in defensive and attacking situations including positional sense, communication, handling, footwork, distribution, crosses, organisational skills, kicking, agility and flexibility.

The facilities at Harlequin’s resorts will also be available for professional football teams to undertake intensive pre-season training. Harlequin also intends to make the Soccer Schools available to local children to encourage education through sports as part of its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility.

Click here to view the Harlequin Sports Academy brochure, which includes details on the Liverpool FC Soccer Schools.

In May 2010 Adam Flynn, Head Coach of Liverpool’s Soccer School in the UK, and ex Liverpool player David Fairclough, who is to oversee the Liverpool Football Club Soccer Schools at Harlequin’s resorts across the Caribbean, visited St Vincent & The Grenadines to search for coaches from the island for the Liverpool Football Soccer School at Buccament Bay Resort.

A shortlist of eight applicants was put forward for assessment. Each applicant undertook a series of practical tests and was asked to coach for 30 minutes under the watchful eyes of Adam and David at the Arnos Vale National Stadium. The Honourable Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture, Mr Cecil McKie, TV crews and journalists attended. Local school children also took part in the event and dressed in the St Vincent & The Grenadines’ national kit.

The applicants were then interviewed by Adam and David, who selected three to be the first coaches for the Liverpool Football Club Soccer School at Buccament Bay Resort. The successful coaches are Roger Gurley, Ralph Stowe and Ezhorne Alexander.

The day was filmed by Liverpool TV, the official club channel, for a 60 minute documentary programme about the partnership between Liverpool Football Club and Harlequin Hotels & Resorts, entitled “Caribbean Kop”. After the selection the Liverpool TV film crew visited the newly appointed coaches at their homes to get their reactions and those of their proud families and to find out how this opportunity could change their lives forever. Further filming continued when the coaches were brought to Liverpool Football Club’s Academy in Liverpool to be trained to coach the ‘Liverpool’ way. The three coaches returned to St Vincent on the 5th August and were greeted by Dave Ames, Cecil Mckie and the local press.

The programme “Caribbean Kop” was aired on Liverpool TV on Saturday August 7th which can also be seen below.