Once again, the project Open Fun Football Schools has inspired numerous kids – boys and girls alike – with two fantastic sporting events that took place in Vidin and Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, last month.

On October 1^st, children aged between 7 and 12 took part in one of these events in the famous Bulgarian “Georgi Benkovski Stadium” in Vidin. Over 170 enthused boys and girls enjoyed the organised football tournaments on the pitch while their grateful parents came to watch them there.

Just 2 weeks later on October 15^th, Blagoevgrad as the other host town of this event, brought together another 170 kids from six different primary schools to participate in this football-dedicated event. Of course, parents didn’t miss out watching their little football enthusiasts.

After various games, goals and cheers, the young players and their parents left these events with some memorable moments and joyful experiences, thankfully expressing their gratitude to the organisers for enabling these tournaments.

It was the very first time that the Open Fun Football Schools project, in cooperation with the Bulgarian Football Union, came in Bulgaria. Thanks also to the UniCredit campaign “MAKE A KID SMILE” and UniCredit Foundation support, children had the chance to play on real pitches with qualitative equipment experiencing very special moments.

Have a look at more pictures of the event

Find out more about UniCredit Foundation

The UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by UniCredit. Three years. One goal: to bring the trophy as close as possible to those who watch the competition day in, day out on TV. Usually, only winners of the UEFA Champions League get that close to the trophy.

Countless stories can be told: In three years, a total of 13 different countries were visited. More than 320.000 visitors made their way to the Trophy Tour Village. Officially, 84.000 photos were taken of fans with the trophy. But who knows how many additional photos can be found on various other private cameras or mobile phones? Wedding couples came to get their special photo taken and some football-crazy supporters even drove over 500 km through Bulgaria just for this unique picture. In three years, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine and Serbia hosted the Trophy Tour. Marvellous spots were visited: the kick off in 2009 in front of the “Duomo” in Milan or the set up of the village on the Red Square in Moscow in 2011, where an enormous queue was waiting for its entrance throughout the 3-day-event. In St. Petersburg, the fans were even willing to pay up to 300 Euro for one VIP ticket, which actually was available for free on this website.

Moving the trophy that moves millions: Driven by the pure power of a 19-metre show truck the trophy was presented on its back in a bulletproof glass safe making it always visible yet always secure. Putting behind a total of 8.000 km on its way through Europe, the tour created emotions and goose-bump-feelings when the show truck arrived at main city squares in the middle of the night or when the UEFA hymn started playing while 5,000 fans waited for the trophy and super stars like Luís Figo, Official UniCredit Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League, to enter the stage. Within the Trophy Tour Village, the free-of-charge exhibition opened its doors to the public, presenting the trophy as the core element as well as memorabilia of the all time heroes of the competition. In addition, the history of European clubs, photos, videos and multimedia effects brought to life historic moments of various tournaments. But the undisputable highlight was the opportunity to take a personal photo with the trophy itself.

The Trophy Tour has established itself as the biggest project for UniCredit within the UEFA Champions League sponsorship with visitor figures surpassing any previous benchmark, realizing a huge logistical effort of building a unique exhibition on the main squares of European capital cities. It’s official: the tour is something special.

Some impressions of these special moments can be found in our galleries on this website, on the UniCreditChampions Page on Facebook and in our UniCreditChampions YouTube Channel. Hope to see you on site when the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by UniCredit continues in 2012!

Friday, 14.10., 6 o’clock, the Trophy Tour Village is in its last preparations to host fans, journalists and football legends to join the UEFA Champions League Trophy.

At the same time in south Serbia six 8 year old footballers from Prokuplje are too excited to sleep. They are jumping into the van that will take them to the final tournament of Open Fun Football Schools organized by UniCredit Bank Serbia in cooperation with UniCredit Foundation. The tournament will take place in Kalemegdan Park, next to the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour Village in Belgrade.

The kids are the first team arriving at the football pitch even though they are coming from the most distant part of Serbia. For them, the mini football pitch looks as big as Wembley Stadium. They all came here with the same goal – to win the mini tournament.

There are 7 other teams they have to play against, but the young footballers are indeed self confident, because they know that they are a team. Having the football legends Luís Figo, Ruud Gullit and Stevan “Dika” Stojanović at the spot watching the matches is giving an enormous motivation at the exhibition. The stars’ signatures and their support are inspiring the kids’ game. Young footballers seem to fly over the pitch, they are dribbling and shooting amazing goals. The dream of these kids slowly is coming true.

Ruud Gullit and Stevan Stojanović are handing over the trophy and medals to them. While giving handshakes, the football legends are wishing them to win the most prestigious trophy one day – the trophy children all around the world are dreaming of.

You can see tears in their eyes, you can see happiness in their smiles and you can see that they will fight for their dreams. UniCredit Bank was honored to organize such an amazing tournament with support of the Open Fun Football Schools. And it was very proud of getting the opportunity to MAKE KIDS SMILE!

Have a look at more pictures of the event.

Find out more about UniCredit Foundation.

The UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour has come to an end at its last tour stop in Belgrade. From October 14 until October 16, Serbian football fans and tourists finally had their chance to welcome the tour and its prestigious trophy for the last time in 2011.

The many fans and guests were officially welcomed in the opening ceremony with the traditional ribbon-cutting of the ambassadors Luís Figo, Ruud Gullit and Stevan Stojanovic, inviting the guests to enter the free-of-charge exhibition. A mini football tournament with “Dika” Stojanovic, local hero and UniCredit Bank Ambassador for the Trophy Tour in Serbia, was surely one of the highlights for the stars’ many fans. The public signature session that followed brought the happy football enthusiasts even closer to their idols.

Throughout its 3-day events the Trophy Tour Village filled the place Donji Kalemagdan with spectators and opened its doors for more than 11,000 visitors, who relived some of the greatest football moments in the history of the UEFA Champions League. The centre of attention was once again the iconic trophy: almost 5,000 personal photos were taken with it – a once in a lifetime experience for every football fan.

Once again we stated one of the user questions posted on our UniCreditChampions page on Facebook. Lukáš wanted to know which matches Luís Figo and Ruud Gullit would like to repeat if they had the chance to do it. Our blogger got their answers live at the Trophy Tour press conference in Belgrade. See what the stars said

In total, almost 100,000 visitors came to the Trophy Tour 2011, which means that over 300,000 people experienced the event across the three years, making a true success story. Pictures from all five tour stops can be found on our website.

We are looking forward to see you next year!

The trophy left Ukraine a few days ago and already the set-up of the Trophy Tour Village in the Tour’s final city stop is busily running to the fullest. Belgrade is proud to welcome the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour 2011 from Friday, October 14 till Sunday, October 16. This time the Trophy Tour Village will be built up in Kalemegdan Park next to the impressive Belgrade Fortress.

For the last time this year football fans have the chance to experience the Trophy Tour exhibition and to get as close as possible to the famous UEFA Champions League Trophy. In addition to that several activities, events, public signature session and mini football tournaments will be highlights of the city stop in Belgrade at Kalemegdan. And of course famous football stars such as Luís Figo, Ruud Gullit Official Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour and Stevan Stojanovic, Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour in Serbia, will be at the spot.

We will keep you up to date about what’s going on in Belgrade on facebook.com/UniCreditChampions.

See the schedule and the public opening hours at Kalemegdan in Belgrade on our website unicredit.eu/champions.

To avoid long waiting queue you can save your personal VIP access.

There’s one unique shirt which has been following the trophy for five weeks. In Russia and Ukraine it was already signed by Luís Figo, Cafu, Davor Suker, Dwight Yorke, Dmitri Alenichev, Alexei Mikhailichenko and Andriy P’yatov. Ruud Gullit and Stevan Stojanovic will finalize it with their signatures this weekend. Find out how to get it on our website.

Last weekend the Trophy Tour Village was the place to be in Donetsk, full of families and fans eager to get their trophy photo and spend time around the Village watching football tournaments, performances, and taking part in lotteries. Nearly 20,000 visitors attended and over 9,000 photos with the trophy were made.

In addition to the huge success of the event with the public, former UEFA Champions League winner Dwight Yorke visited a boarding school in the city of Donetsk, delighting the children with a short speech, some football tricks and his beaming smile.

During the official press conference Luís Figo answered the question Leonardo asked via Facebook: “Which players would you choose to play in your personal dream team?” You can see the answer on our YouTube Channel.

Pictures from the event can be found in the galleries on our website and on facebook.

There’s a last chance for you to win a special shirt which will be signed at the next Trophy Tour stop in Belgrade. One of your questions will be answered live at the stop by Luís Figo. Just post it in the comments section below this picture on Facebook by tomorrow.

After Kiev, Lenin Square in Donetsk is getting ready to welcome its citizens to a life-time event that will spread the UEFA Champions League spirit. From Friday, October 7 till Sunday, October 9, the Trophy Tour Village with an outside football pitch for tournaments, the extraordinary exhibition of football memorabilia and the much sought-after UEFA Champions League Trophy invite not only football fans but also families and children. Special attraction is the attendance of football stars Luís Figo, as well as of Dwight Yorke and local hero Andriy Pyatov, who will join the tour at the first event day. After the official ceremony, all three football stars will be available for a public signature session.

Time schedule Donetsk
Stay tuned by visiting our live coverage on Facebook

From September 30 until October 2, the Ukraine welcomed the UEFA Champions League Trophy enthusiastically on Sofievskaya square in Kiev’s city centre.

The Trophy Tour village was opened for the 15.100 visitors who took their chance to get as close as they will ever be to the UEFA Champions League Trophy, the ultimate cup in all of Europeans club competitions. The weather could not hold back the Ukrainian fans from experiencing the exhibition or securing an autograph from their football idol for themselves.

The Open Fun Football Schools (OFFS) thrilled the spectators on Saturday in Kiev with a small football championship. With the help of the “Make a Kid Smile”-Campaign of UniCredit and UniCredit Foundation the OFFS came to Ukraine for the first time.

Check out the highlights of the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour 2011 so far.

Next stop: Ukraine, Donetsk, 7 Oct. – 9 Oct.

Time schedules Ukraine

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In more than 40 cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Open Fun Football Schools (OFFS) inspired more than 3.200 boys and girls and brought them together to play football. For the village Veliki Radić, a dream came true, as Anders Levinson, founder of the project, learned from Mr. Svetozar Pudarić, Vice president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the small and poor returnee village, at the slopes of Grmeč Mountain, a region where life is truly hard, couple of dozen children were always dreaming of playing football with a real football and real goals. So far, these kids went to join the OFFS in Bosanska Krupa but the desire to continue playing never stopped when they were back home. This season a dream came true. Old, wooden and broken goals were replaced by new ones.

The village Veliki Radić became five net for goals and 25 footballs and thanks to the local OFFS instructor and coaches even a small OFFS was realized. All together 2.250 footballs, 1.500 bibs and 3.375 t-shirts were provided for the OFFS in Bosnia and Herzegovina thanks also to the support of UniCredit Foundation.

See more pictures from the event in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Anders Levinson and the Open Fun Football Schools.

More details about the work of UniCredit Foundation.