110 pupils and seven staff from Northfield School and Sports College visited Real Madrid football club in October half term. 

The Inspiresport led educational visit included three football coaching sessions at Real Madrid Valdebebas training ground. The pupils wore the Real Madrid training kit in their first session and were coached by good quality academy coaches.  All pupils really enjoyed the coaching sessions. The facilities at the training ground were amazing and certainly one of world's best training grounds.

The large group flew out from Edinburgh airport and returned to Heathrow airport - they stayed in an ideal hotel located not far from the Madrid airport and training ground. 

The highlight of the tour for most was the Real Madrid (Santiago Bernabeu) stadium tour closely followed by the Athletico Madrid (Metropolitano) stadium tour.

This was an amazing experience visiting two of the best stadiums in the world and also as Real Madrid is the most successful club in Europe, displaying 15 European trophies.

They also really enjoyed watching the La Liga Getafe v Valencia game which was a competitive game with a good atmosphere created by Northfield pupils and the Valencia supporters. They had visited three Madrid stadiums in three days which was another brilliant experience for the pupils. 

The pupils played a competitive game against local club teams and even though we competed well for the most of the six games, the Spanish teams won every game.   

The group visited Madrid city centre and we saw three famous landmarks such as the Madrid Retiro Park, City Plaza and the King's Palace. 

Overall, the trip was a huge success and a happy and memorable lifetime experience for all Northfield pupils and staff. 

Mr Alderson would like to thank all parents for their continued support throughout the long process of organising the trip.

Gran Real Madrid!