The tournament, which took place in Wythenshawe, south Manchester, saw girls and mixed teams take part from clubs such as Stoke City, West Brom, Blackburn Rovers and, of course, the Foundation’s very own Street Reds participants representing the Reds. The teams competed against one another throughout the day, aiming to be crowned overall winners of the tournament.

Meanwhile, members of the Armed Forces hosted career workshops, games, an obstacle course and even arrived in style, bringing along a chinook helicopter for the participants to experience a look inside the famous tandem-rotor aircraft. They also led activities and offered an insight into the roles and responsibilities within their relevant teams.

Joining the participants and representatives of the British Army and Royal Air Force were former United players Danny Webber and Fraizer Campbell. The pair enjoyed getting involved with the activities and fielded questions from the players, offering pearls of wisdom to those youngsters looking to pursue a career in the game.

“It’s been such a great day and I’ve really enjoyed watching these kids do what they love best – playing football,” Danny said. “Football and Manchester United can be used for a catalyst for so many things, bringing people together and providing unique opportunities like we’ve seen today with the Armed Forces being present.

“I love being involved as it shows United wrapping its love around the community.”

The Armed Forces element of the day came as a part of their community engagement initiatives and to mark Armed Forces Week, which takes place from 24^th – 28^th June. Flt Lt Matt Coulson, an RAF pilot from 18^th Squadron, spoke to us about their involvement.

“Today’s been a chance for us show them what we do and provide some really cool experiences for them,” he said. “It’s clear they all love their football, but it was nice for us to provide a different element to the day, showing them what it’s like inside a chinook and hosting some fun activities too, which they threw themselves into!”

“It’s been really cool,” Street Reds participant Fin added. “I’ve loved taking part in a tournament representing Man United, and we also got to go and look inside a helicopter and hear about how it works, which was mad!”

The day’s events concluded with a trophy and medal presentation, with Danny and Fraizer on hand to dish out the awards as Sheffield United boys and Rotherham United girls took home the big prizes of the day.

One of our Street Reds head coaches, Daryll Abraham, supported the participants throughout the afternoon and gave an insight into how beneficial events such as these can be.

“We run Street Reds every night of the week all over Greater Manchester and now further afield too,” Daryll told us. “The kids will come down to the sessions simply to enjoy playing football, but potentially could end up with the chance to represent United at a tournament like this.

“It’s always good to be supported by external organisations too, and I just want to thank the Armed Forces for giving up their time to speak to the kids and showing them a glimpse into their world. A lot of the boys and girls here are starting to think about their future after school, so to be exposed to different industries and opportunities is really important.”

To find your local Street Reds project and sign-up to attend, click here.