Merseyside to Milan: A non-league club's unlikely partnership

A non-league club from Liverpool are enjoying an unlikely partnership with AC Milan. Halewood Apollo FC - who are new to the First Division North West Counties League this season - formed a link with the Italian club this summer after getting in touch with them about their community work with local children. The team originated from a group of friends in 2014 who had all stopped playing football in their early 20s and wanted to start again. "It was a real mix of lads, some who'd never played junior football and some who'd been at Liverpool for years, and we just started out in the Warrington bottom division just for a laugh," Joseph Stocks, the team's chairman and manager, told BBC Radio Merseyside. Stocks runs Apollo Active club, a community interest company, working with many partners, including internationally, helping up to 10,000 children in Liverpool's city region. "We know the work we do in our community is fantastic, and we know that partnerships are huge," Stocks said. The 35-year-old found that Milan were seeking external partnerships internationally, which led to him directly reaching out to the club to talk about the prospect of a partnership. "We got speaking to AC Milan and they looked into what we were doing, and they loved it, so we went over to Milan to meet them and struck up a partnership," he explained. "We're from a deprived area. This partnership isn't about money." Representatives from the European giants will visit Apollo Active's ground later this month to put Milan academy-style training camps on for Halewood's local children. Halewood have also been invited to Milan to train at their facilities and watch games at the San Siro. "It's iconic. I think everyone who loved football growing up has a soft spot for AC Milan, they're possibly the most iconic club in the world maybe apart from Real Madrid and Barcelona," Stocks added. "We all love AC Milan, the famous colours, the famous players. To bring them over to our facilities was amazing for us." After their humble beginnings, Halewood have now worked their way up to the Liverpool County Premier Division. They stayed up in their first season there, came second the following year before going on to to win it - and plan to continue their swift rise through the football pyramid. "In the step six tier, there's a lot more to it. You've basically got to be run like a professional club," Stocks said. "We didn't have the facilities in terms of seated stands, standing covered stands, changing-room facilities; you've got to be able to watch from two sides of the pitch minimum, and we only had one barrier across our pitch, so we had to get that done. "Everything's in place now; the lads who've come in are very professional and quality players, our junior section is absolutely thriving and it's only two years old. We're in a great place at the minute."
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