"I'm full of admiration for the thousands of volunteers who give up their time to work with young people who really do benefit from the skills they learn on the football pitch. Volunteer coaches really are a credit to their communities and should be celebrated."
Kenny Dalglish MBE
McDonald's Head of Scottish Football
McDonald's are the official Community Partner of the four national football associations and are celebrating our achievement of creating over 11,500 new volunteer community football coaches since 2002.
With over 9,521 coaches in England, 1,435 coaches in Scotland, 609 coaches in Wales and 285 coaches in Northern Ireland, the McDonald's coaching programme is helping to provide safer quality coaching for children across the UK.
Through the McDonald's coaching programme over 1.8 million qualified coaching hours have been provided by our coaches while more than £4.5 million worth of kit & equipment and over 190,000 footballs have been donated.
Find out how to become a qualified football coach by logging onto your football association:
Coaching news
10,000 Coaches Celebrations
25th April 2006, saw McDonald's celebrate the achievement of creating 10,000 volunteer community football coaches in style at the Savoy Hotel in London. Former England Head Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, joined club and country coaches, football legends and ministers to pay tribute to the coaching talent gathered by McDonald's through the UK's Football Associations.
Vicars, policemen and pensioners were among the 100 volunteer coaches invited as guests of honour at a celebratory lunch at The Savoy in London alongside England's
Northern Ireland coach Lawrie Sanchez, Charlton Athletic's Alan Curbishley, Sir Geoff Hurst MBE and Kenny Dalglish MBE.
Politicians and senior representatives from the Premier League, The FA, Scottish FA, FAW Trust and Irish FA were also present to recognise the contribution made by the volunteer community coaches created by McDonald's since 2002.
Visit from Ray
In August Chelsea legend Ray Wilkins dropped by to visit Tankerton FC under 8s to give them a few words of advice in advance of their trip to Cardiff for the 2006 Community Shield to be McDonald's Player Escorts, leading out Chelsea.
Tankerton won the chance after their coach Tim Elgar entered a McDonald's competition to find the most deserving team. Although last season Tankerton FC Under 8s lost every single game they played, their team spirit and dedication impressed everyone including Ray.
Ray was accompanied by the actual Community Shield trophy, for some added inspiration.
Cops Have a Ball
It's not every day you see a group of policemen in full uniform having a kick-about. But that's exactly what happened at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium when local bobbies turned up to receive their awards after successfully completing the McDonald’s / FAW Trust Football Leaders Award.
They will spend their spare time providing thousands of hours of qualified football coaching to youngsters across South Wales.
Star Joins Scotland Legend and Kids for Hampden Kickabout
Justin Timberlake, the face of McDonald's 'I'm lovin it' campaign, met up with Scottish legend and McDonald's Head of Scottish Football, Kenny Dalglish, to give pupils from Berryhill Primary, a surprise coaching session on the hallowed turf of Hampden Park.
The Eric and Earnie Show
Welsh international Robert Earnshaw visited Tir-y-Birth Primary School, near Caerphilly, along with Wales and McDonald's National Football coach Eric Harrison.
Tir-y-Birth Primary School in Caerphilly became the first school in Wales to pass the McDonald's / FAW Trust Accreditation Scheme.
Such has been the success of the scheme in Tir-y-Birth Primary School, the majority of its pupils now play football - and more than half of them are girls. The school's PE teacher, Daniel Thwaite, was also one of the first teachers to become a McDonald's / FAW Trust qualified coach.
