This Sunday will become the biggest day of young Chelsea fan Rachel Key’s life as she gets the chance to present the Premier League trophy to her Chelsea heroes as part of Barclays' ‘Spirit of the Game’ initiative.
Chelsea legend and World Cup winner Marcel Desailly surprised her with the good news at her home in south-west London. Rachel said: “I thought it was some kind of wind-up when he turned up at my door with the Barclays Premier League trophy and said I was going to be giving it to the Chelsea team on the last day of the season – it’s just unbelievable.”
Rachel completed a course on the Barclays Premier League Works scheme that helps struggling young people get the right skills and confidence to be work ready. Growing up, Rachel struggled with discipline before making a positive step to change her life by joining the initiative at Chelsea. Since then she has thrived and secured a job as a football coach with pre-school football academy Little Kickers.
Rachel continued: “Things have really changed for me and I’m grateful for all the opportunities it has given me. Of course, this is the icing on the cake - I’m a massive Chelsea fan and I can’t wait to hand the trophy over to the team on Sunday.”
Desailly said: “I love meeting fans like Rachel. She is so passionate about Chelsea and to see the look on her face when she heard what she was going to do was fantastic. I’m excited for her, and hope she can enjoy the lead-up to the day and the big moment itself. It’s going to be a very special day for her.”
Barclays are committed to helping the next generation of fans fall in love with football. Throughout the 2014/2015 season Barclays have been giving fans the chance to win tickets to their first match via the Barclays Spirit of the Game website, where they can now register to win tickets for next season. Barclays has also once again given away more than 8,000 tickets to local communities in partnership with Premier League clubs.
