Splash Waterworld
Swim, slide, splash and splish until your heart's content inside Butlin's brilliant family pools.
Following a sell out year in 2024, We cant wait to return to Butlin’s Skegness to stage two fantastic ESF 2025 festivals. Up to 400 grassroots girls and boys’ teams from are set to join on tour for the ultimate weekend of Football & Fun!
On top of being one of the most prestigious youth festivals in the UK, Butlin’s Skegness is without doubt one of the very best holiday resorts around. It’s the perfect combination for an action-packed tour.
Read MoreThe amazing Splash Waterworld is packed with flumes, rides and slides, it’s always a firm favourite for the kids and adults alike. There’s also a variety of live shows, tribute acts, live bands and discos, so your team will enjoy some amazing family entertainment, at no extra cost! If you’re looking for extra thrills, you can pay a small extra charge for activities like the High Ropes, with the excitement of the ‘leap of faith’, Climbing Wall, Go Karts, Quasar, Adventure Golf, Ten Pin Bowling and much more!
Read MoreYour party are assured of a comfortable stay in a choice of accommodation including new Fairground and Seaside Apartments which are beautifully decorated modern family apartments.
Butlin’s Dining Plans always prove to be extremely popular with our teams. There’s a wide selection of choices available and you can go back for seconds as many times as you like – perfect for hungry young footballers! The dining times are scheduled so they don’t clash with your fixtures and you’ll save 20% by booking in advance compared to the on-resort price. There’s also the Firehouse Grill, Ludo’s Italian, Rock & Sole fish and chips, Beachcomber Inn and the new American-style Diner on resort.
Read MoreOur presentation ceremonies are a the perfect way to close the festival in style. Every child will receive a quality award as a memento of the festival and there are special awards in addition for the winners, runners up and fair play winners in each age group. Kevin Keegan, Paul Merson, Jordan Nobbs, Faye White, Ray Parlour, stuart Pearce and Casey Stoney have joined us as special guests at ESF at Butlin’s Skegness in recent years!
Early registration is recommended to secure your team place at ESF 2025 at Butlin’s Skegness, call 01664 566360 to reserve your team place today!
There's a fantastic range of facilities at Butlin's to keep everyone entertained while you're on tour.
Swim, slide, splash and splish until your heart's content inside Butlin's brilliant family pools.
Go round, up, down, spin and whizz through the air in Butlin's fairgrounds.
When the football stops the fun continues! There's a fantastic range of facilities on resort at Butlin's.
Live shows, tribute acts, discos and more will keep everyone entertained throughout the weekend.
There's a great range of places to eat & drink, with Half Board meal packages also available.
Accommodation prices are per person for the weekend (Fri, Sat & Sun night), including Butlin's entertainment passes and ESF 2025 wristbands.
4 - 7 Apr 2025:£115pp - £165pp
2 - 5 May 2025:£150pp - £200pp
Ledley King, Jordan Nobbs, Kevin Keegan, Paul Merson, Faye White, Ray Parlour, Stuart Pearce and Sue Smith have joined us as special guests.
Win your age section at ESF 2025 in Skegness to qualify for the ESF Grand Finale at St Georges Park!
Every child receives a quality ESF 2025 medal from our special guest at the presentation ceremony, plus there are superb awards for the Champions, Runners Up and Fair Play winners in each age group.
Your team will feel like they’re in the Premier League with live fixture updates in the ESF App.
5-a-side: Max squad size = 10 players
7-a-side: Max squad size = 14 players
9-a-side: Max squad size = 16 players
£129 per 5-a-side team
£159 per 7-a-side team
£189 per 9-a-side team
OR Club Registration Fee (unlimited teams) = £399
ESF 2025 Early Booking Offer
Register before 31 August 2024 and save 50% on the Registration Fees above
Friday: No football is played on the day of arrival, so teams can relax and get settled into accommodation and enjoy the evening’s entertainment. Check in for accommodation is from 4pm, but you can arrive on resort from 1pm. A briefing meeting for Group Leaders & Coaches will take place on Friday evening.
Saturday & Sunday: There’s an electric atmosphere around the pitches as the action starts and ESF kicks off. All teams will play group stage matches on both days. Where required, knock out matches will take place following the group stages. Teams should expect to play 5 – 8 games over the weekend, depending on the festival format and how for the team progress in the festival. The ESF celebrity presentation ceremonies will take place on the Sunday afternoon/evening.
Monday: No football is played on the Monday. Teams therefore have the option of travelling home on the Sunday evening or Monday. Check Out is 10am on Monday and guests must depart the Holiday Centre by Midday.
Each guest who has booked accommodation through ESF Events will receive an ESF 2025 wristband when they check in at Butlin’s and Haven. Please be aware that the ESF Events wristband is required to attend the playing venues as a player, club official or spectator, attend the presentation ceremony at Butlin’s, and enter evening entertainment venues at the Holiday Centres.
ESF 2025 wristbands are not available to purchase separately. If you are not booked through ESF Events, you are not part of the event and do not have permission to attend the playing venues as a player, official or spectator, or to attend the ESF presentation ceremonies.
A full final briefing email will be sent to the Group Leaders of all participating teams 7-10 days before the festival takes place. The final briefing will include fixtures, schedules and the festival rules, which have been sanctioned by the appropriate National Football Association. At this stage, the ESF App will also go live displaying all festival fixtures and schedules.
ESF is a festival for grassroots teams of all abilities. All teams must be affiliated to a County, Area, National or School Football Association. Centre of Excellence and Academy teams affiliated to professional clubs and ‘representative’ sides are not permitted to enter ESF 2025. Please contact ESF Events before registering if you have any questions regarding the eligibility of your team(s).
In accordance with FA rules, boys who are currently registered with an FA Premier League or Football League Academy are not permitted to participate in ESF 2025.
In accordance with FA rules, girls who are registered with a Emerging Talent Centres (ETCs) and Girls Development Centres (GDCs) are permitted to participate in ESF 2025, providing they are currently a registered player for the team participating, and they have approval from the ETC or GDC to participate in grassroots football. Please note, girls registered with an ETC cannot participate in ESF 2025 as a ‘Guest Player’.
Please contact ESF Events if you have any questions regarding the eligibility of any of your players.
Age Group | Born on or after | Born before |
---|---|---|
U14 | 1 Sep ’10 | 1 Sep ’12 |
U13 | 1 Sep ’11 | 1 Sep ’13 |
U12 | 1 Sep ’12 | 1 Sep ’14 |
U11 | 1 Sep ’13 | 1 Sep ’15 |
U10 | 1 Sep ’14 | 1 Sep ’16 |
U9 | 1 Sep ’15 | 1 Sep ’17 |
U8 | 1 Sep ’16 | 1 Sep ’18 |
U7 | 1 Sep ’17 | 1 Sep ’18* |
*In accordance with FA rules, once a player has turned 6 years of age they will be permitted to participate in the U7 age section at ESF 2025.
Teams are permitted to register a maximum of two ‘guest players’ for the festival. ‘Guest players’ are players who are not currently registered with your club. They must produce documentary evidence to your club secretary to prove that they are the correct age and they must bring these documents with them to the festival.
All players will receive a custom designed ESF 2025 medal at the presentation ceremony as a memento of ESF 2025. In addition, there are high quality team awards for the festival Runners-Up and Champions, plus Fair Play and Magic Moment awards presented in each age group.
PLEASE NOTE:
The FAW have previously stated that all teams from Wales in the U7-U11 age groups must participate on a non-competitive basis, in line with FAW regulations. The FAW may also stipulate this for ESF 2025. If so, U7 – U11 teams from Wales can participate in the Group Stages of the festival, playing games on the Saturday & Sunday, but they cannot progress to the Playoff Stages (Semi Final & Final) on the Sunday afternoon and cannot be presented with the festival Runners Up or Champions awards.
Teams from the local area where the festivals are staged are permitted to apply for entry by returning the Team Registration Form. However, we cannot guarantee a place in the festival until the numbers of touring teams are finalised in each age group. At this stage, if additional teams are required in a given age group for the good of the festival, applications from local teams may be accepted by ESF Events.
Please note: If you have any queries or any other information regarding any of the tournament information detailed above, please call 01664 566360 or email us here at ESF Events.
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