Ahead of Manchester United first-team's draw at Anfield on Monday night, the club's Under-16s were triumphant on Merseyside as they won the Premier League's Under-16 International Football for Freedom Tournament.
United denied Fulham a third successive victory in the tournament after a penalty shootout at Liverpool FC's academy, with their coach lauding the tournament as "fundamental to player development".
Nine English teams from Category One academies (United, Fulham, Chelsea, Derby County, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion) were joined by three European sides (Anderlecht, Borussia Dortmund and Porto) in the competition held in support of Anti-Slavery Day 2016.
See: Football for Freedom Tournament gallery
As well as the on-pitch learning from competing against their peers from around the country and abroad, the players were educated on the history of slavery and human trafficking.
This featured a talk by Julia Immonen, the founder of Sport for Freedom.
Also they heard from Al Bangura, the former Watford player, and now ambassador for Sport for Freedom, who gave them first-hand experience of what it was like to be trafficked.
"Football gave me freedom," Bangura said. "I was trafficked from Guinea when I was 14 years old. When I looked at a football I felt free. Football gave me hope."
Anderlecht, Man Utd and Fulham topped their respective groups and were joined in the semi-finals by West Bromwich Albion, as best runners-up.
A shootout win over the Baggies maintained Fulham's hopes of a hat-trick of titles, but after a goalless draw in the final, they lost 5-4 from the spot.
"Winning was important to us but, more importantly, the experience of tournament football is a fundamental part of our players' development, win or lose," Man Utd Under-16s coach Neil Ryan told ManUtd.com.
Martyn Heather, Head of Education at the Premier League was pleased with how the tournament went.
"The education of our Academy players is vitally important, so to be able to link an international football tournament with the opportunity to grow and develop our young players' knowledge on historical and current affairs can only benefit all involved," he said.
