Halewood football club that nearly went extinct secures historic AC Milan connection

After surviving extinction during their first decade, Halewood Apollo FC have made history in recent weeks after announcing a partnership with one of the world's biggest football teams. Climbing through the ranks of local football, the club started as a group of friends playing in Division Five of the Warrington League in 2014. In the years that followed, they gradually climbed through the leagues until they outgrew the Warrington League and made the jump to the Liverpool County Premier League , which is the top amateur league in the city. Gaining promotion during their first season in 2020, by 2024 they had become one of the best amateur sides in Liverpool. In more recent times they have become semi-pro and launched their own academy, and now have 50 teams across multiple age groups. Amid their quick rise up the local football pyramid, in recent weeks they announced that the surprise move to partner with the seven-time Champions League and European Cup winners AC Milan. Halewood Apollo's Chairman, Joseph Stocks, 35, told the ECHO: "AC Milan want to put a foothold in the UK. You'll see them set up in the UAE, they'll have camps out there, but this one's different to that because they know they're in a deprived area. "This one's more to get their brand out there and work with kids who love football. I think Italian football at the minute needs more eyes on it, it's great for them in that aspect." However, Joseph said that the move is about more than simply the Italian side trying to grow their "brand". He said: "We got speaking to their academy commercial director about potentially linking up. They liked how Halewood Apollo was run, especially our junior section. The club has been in a great place recently, we started our junior section about two years ago and we've built up close to 50 teams already, with hundreds of kids at the club." While they presumably could have picked any club to try and partner with, it's clear to Joseph why his side stands out from the rest. He said: "We're not here to just put football on and then go away. We care about our kids. We've got free camps across the whole summer for our children, we go the extra mile for our kids. "Even though they're from Milan, they've got similar areas to us and I think that they care about giving children the best access. Every child should have access to sport, they shouldn't be priced out of it, and giving them the best opportunities to sport. "That's what Milan absolutely loved, what our club stands for, and that's why they wanted to work with us." The partnership will take place across three stages, Joseph said: "They're coming over to deliver camps using the AC Milan methodology with our kids and then they're taking some of our kids over to deliver experiences in Milan. "They're going to be taking kids over to train at their facilities, play matches, go and watch matches at the San Siro, and go to the museum." Their steep rise comes with an extra sense of pride considering the bleak times that the club once endured. He said: "In those first 10 years, we nearly folded every season. I think getting players to play for you and the amount of times we've turned up with nine and 10 men, we could have easily just downed tools and gone 'I'm not doing this no more'. "It can be costly as well. Clubs at this level don't make an income. You pay for refs, for facilities, trying to get sponsorships. We've stuck at it, we've dug deep." Having agreed the partnership some time before, the "surreal" nature of the situation hit home when he was invited to Italy. Joseph said: "It was a bit, wow, we have AC Milan in Halewood. The most surreal moment was when we went out to Milan and they gave us a shirt with Liverpool on, they really treated us, the hospitality was unbelievable. It was like we were a new signing. "They brought us out to their club facilities, took us for lunch in Milan, showed us all their facilities, took us round the museum. It was amazing, they didn't have to do that." Despite the recent partnership, Joseph is eager for the club not to rest on their laurels. He said: "I think that the way we want to take this club now and the vision we have for the club, this deal with AC Milan is just a milestone on the way. We don't want this to be the pinnacle we want to take this club as far as we can."