On Sunday 7 September, three local students joined members from the LFC Foundation to take on roles at Anfield Stadium for LFC Women’s opening day fixture against Everton as part of the Premier League Inspires Programme.

Premier League Inspires is a personal development programme, funded by the Premier League and Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) through the Premier League Charitable Fund.

The programme uses the power of football to inspire young people aged 11-18 to develop the personal skills and positive attitudes need to succeed in life. It is predominantly delivered in secondary schools

Two hours before kick-off, the three young people arrived at Anfield to receive their briefing and learn about their roles for the day.

The students were provided with access around the stadium to see the various roles of staff on the matchday and to meet different personnel within the stadium who took the time to provide key insight into their careers and their journey of working for the Reds.

Prior to kick off, the students filmed the atmosphere around Anfield, the coach arrival and some magic moments for young LFC Women fans, the pre-match warm up and Mighty Red!

Once the game kicked off, they took their positions to complete their roles for the day with one student writing a match report from the match from Anfield’s press box. The other two were positioned behind the goals to capture key match action and to document their experiences from the day.

Check out a reel the team put together here:

Ryan Hardy, Premier League Inspires Senior Coordinator at LFC Foundation said: “We’re fortunate at the LFC Foundation to be able to offer special opportunities for young people to experience careers at Anfield in a way that they may not have considered before.

“We know how important it is for young people to receive work experience opportunities to help develop practical skills, understand their expectations, and build confidence for the world of work.

“Meeting people from across the Club on an opening day fixture of the Women’s Super League at Anfield will hopefully further inspire our participants to keep pushing themselves to achieve their goals.”

Premier League Inspires empowers participants to develop personal, social, employability and life-skills, through a series of regular face-to-face group sessions, mentoring workshops and social action projects, providing pupils with the help they need now and supporting them to plan for their future.

A View from the Anfield Press Box from Peter Lynch

I had the privilege of being part of a small group of students welcomed to Anfield to experience the first LFC women’s game of the 2025/26 WSL season, working alongside the media team. This day offered an opportunity to see and experience Anfield from the perspective of the people who are tasked with sharing the match day story, alongside insightful commentary, with fans around the world.

The first welcome as we entered the stadium came from Liverpool’s mascot, Mighty Red. Watching the players exit the team bus and enthusiastically engaging with young fans set the tone for the rest of the day. I was struck by the excitement of some of the younger fans meeting their heroes. The recent growth in the profile and popularity of the women’s game has brought with it a welcome expansion to the number of competitive games played at Anfield, giving more fans the opportunity to experience the unique buzz of an Anfield match day.

Soon after, we were introduced to members of the LFC media team. Among them was Peter McDowall, lead presenter and commentator on LFCTV and the stadium announcer at Anfield. He was kind enough to give up his time to talk to us about our ambitions for the future and our individual interests in sports journalism.

We then had the opportunity to walk pitch side and soak up the stadium atmosphere ahead of the game.

Two participants, Lilly and Katie, were tasked with capturing images for the LFC Foundation’s social media platforms. Stationed in the stands, they experienced the challenges faced by professional matchday photographers in capturing key moments and images to share with fans. I headed up to the press box. Sitting alongside working journalists and watching the game unfold from that vantage point was an amazing and memorable experience. Every key moment was logged, providing me with a realistic taste of life working in football media. At half time we enjoyed refreshments in the lounge, which was another behind the scenes insight into the huge effort that goes into delivering a successful Anfield match day.

On the pitch, Everton ended up 4-1 winners. But more detail on that to follow in my match report!

As the final whistle blew and Anfield began to empty, the group caught up to reflect on our experiences, from meeting the staff to seeing the action unfold on the pitch.

More than anything, we left grateful for a day that offered a unique insight into working at Liverpool Football Club.