Villa tasted success at the Premier League Schools Tournament Finals, winning the under-11s mixed section at Old Trafford. 

John Palmer's goal in a 1-0 final victory over Bolton Wanderers secured the trophy for Villa, who were represented by Dorridge Junior School of Solihull.

Coach Michael Jones said: "I am immensely proud of them. All the kids have been fantastic. They were behind twice in their early group games but came back to win which is not easy when the matches are so short.

"That shows the character and spirit in the team and I am delighted their hard work has been rewarded. It has been a fantastic event and a wonderful day for all the competitors. It is great that the Premier League provides opportunities like this for school children."

Each of the 20 Barclays Premier League clubs had staged their own competition to select a school to represent them in the regional finals, with more than 8,000 pupils from over 1,000 schools taking part.

From there, eight teams in each section made it through to the national finals at the home of the English, European and world champions.

They received the red carpet treatment, preparing in the dressing rooms used by Sir Alex Ferguson's superstars before walking down the players' tunnel into the Theatre of Dreams, with the highlight coming at the end as every player received a medal to the tune of Queen's 'We Are The Champions'.

Each team got to play three group matches, which were refereed by Barclays Premier League officials Mark Clattenburg, Phil Dowd, Mark Halsey and Howard Webb. The group winners then went through to meet in the final.