Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler's 'immense pride' as FEFA college make football history

Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has spoken of his "immense pride" at seeing his college team make history by becoming the first to win a domestic treble at that level.

And the Fowler Education and Football Academy (FEFA) built on their unprecedented success in England by adding two more pieces of silverware to their haul in the United States to end an historic campaign on a remarkable high.

The achievement comes a year into their working partnership with Liverpool FC Women at Melwood and sees FEFA heading towards their 10th anniversary on the back of a memorable 12 months for the college.

FEFA became the first side to win three National Football Youth League trophies, which is the highest level outside of professional academies, before following it up with two more on the other side of the Atlantic, as they won the Florida International Cup in Orlando alongside the Sharks Showcase Cup in Miami.

And while Fowler insists the education aspect of the college will always come first for their students, the former Reds striker was fulsome in his praise for the football side of what is a thriving organisation at the iconic West Derby facility.

Speaking to the ECHO at Melwood, Fowler said: "We've had confirmation today (Wednesday) that we are the first college to have done the treble and it is unbelievable. I really feel like it is something we should be shouting from the rooftops. Not for us or for myself, but for the kids and what they have achieved.

"This is a great local story about what they have won and what they have achieved coming to a local college and us doing what we do, I think it has been exceptional what that they have done."

In FEFA's first year in collaboration with Liverpool FC Women, who officially moved to the site in June 2023, the college's womens' team was able to celebrate promotion via a second-place finish and were personally congratulated on their achievement by LFCW boss Matt Beard and it is a partnership that is flourishing.

"I am for education being first and foremost here because that is how we set things up," Fowler says. "We had the ideology that it was a chance for kids to maybe get into the football system if education is a struggle, academically-wise, but primarily it is about education here.

"But to swing that again, I think this is a chance to celebrate what has been done here from a football perspective. And it is unparalleled for me, an ex-sportsman, to put my name to this and to be involved with it all, as much as we do want to talk about the successes from the education point of view but when something like happens from a football point of view, it is really remarkable, a remarkable achievement and for me it is something I am massively proud of and it gives me immense pride.

"We said when we opened it was about giving kids the chance at a better education but also a chance to maybe get back into football via different avenues and we have done all of that. Obviously there are different spells and years where there are different elements of success and this has been a massive one football wise and the education side of things too. We have ticked every box this season and I couldn't be more proud.

"It is only right that we get the education side of things right but I am a football man and when you see the teams being as successful as this, it is genuinely a wow moment, it really is. I think this is one of the reasons why the college football leagues exist is because it gives people a chance to get back into football professionally.

"I think Matty Cash (Aston Villa) and Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) are two who have come through the college route back into the system, so it definitely can happen and we're under no illusions and the kids aren't thinking it is going to be easy.

"They have got to work hard at it all in the same way they do with their education and that is one of the things I am most proud of; the fact we have won all those trophies but they stuck to their guns on the education side as well."

On top of the domestic and international achievements of the team itself, Fowler's academy are able to boast a number of individual success stories with students going off to university to continue their education or furthering their careers in parts of the world like the USA or Dubai with organisations like FIFA, world football's governing body.

Liverpool-born Kane Drummond has just signed a one-year contract with National League champions Chesterfield, while former student Jacob Shield now works at Washington's Capitol Hill building, earning him the affectionate nickname of 'the Scouse Cowboy' around the college.

On the education side of the operation, FEFA agreed a partnership with Alder Hey Children's Hospital last year and have just announced a HNC (higher national certificate) qualification in sport with the HE Academy and Loughborough College.

Fowler adds: "When we started up, the stats of becoming a professional footballer now, it is nigh-on impossible, I think it is something like four percent of every academy in the country goes on to be a professional. Only like 0.1% go on to be an elite professional, so we realised education matters and there are other routes into football other than playing.

"Physios, sports science, there are other routes and we have got kids who have left us to join FIFA on the analytical side. We have ticked a lot of boxes in terms of the kids going on to do what they want to do and be the very best version of themselves.

"I've just mentioned those stats and there are a lot of players being released this time of year and a lot of them will find a way back into the game but also a lot of them won't. If you've not got the required grades to go down a different path then it becomes tougher, so we are going down the right path to bring out the best in terms of what the kids can offer. It has been, we said it from day one what we wanted to do, and we have done that. Every year is getting better and better and this success in football says that.

"I think this is probably one of things we've spoken about, we want them to thrive but we don't want them to come because their ability at football, that is a bonus. Primarily we want kids to be the best version of who they want to be. It is not that we want kids because they are great at football.

"We've seen it with academy kids in the past where all the eggs are in the one basket of football and their education has suffered and I'll be honest, mine probably did, I was that focused on wanting to be a football player, you sort of let your schooling slide away.

"I was a lucky one who had a decent career but there are loads who aren't as fortunate, so then you become lost in a crossroads, what way to turn, what avenue to go down, but we offer that. We have always said that and I am genuinely amazed at what we have done."

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