Eight year-old Islander Milly Dawson, will have the chance to play for Premier League side Everton FC, thanks to support from Rossborough Insurance.

The insurance broker is the first business in the Island to sponsor Milly, who was recently signed by Everton’s U9 squad after impressing coaches during a one-day trial at Everton’s Finch Farm training ground.

The ?1,000 sponsorship will help to fund the travel costs for Milly and her parents to attend weekly training sessions and match days with the club throughout the 2016/2017 season. 

Tim Rattray, managing director at Rossborough, said, ‘Rossborough is delighted to be the first business to sponsor Milly and we are proud to provide the support needed for her to follow her dreams of becoming a professional footballer. Milly’s parents should be very proud of their talented young daughter, and we are all looking forward to seeing how Milly gets on this season as she progresses with the U9 squad.’

Milly was invited to attend trials at Everton after her parents submitted footage of her scoring goals in a local tournament. After attending one of the trial days at Everton’s training ground she was signed by the club’s U9 squad.

‘Milly took part in the Manx Youth Games tournament here and scored 22 goals, 10 of which were in one match! Having filmed a few of the goals I sent them off to Everton and they invited her to come to trials with the club. We were only able to attend one of the three trial days but that was all she needed to shine and they signed her up immediately. We’re all so proud of Milly and thanks to Rossborough we will be able to travel across to Liverpool for the weekly training sessions and matches,’ added Milly’s dad, Dominic Dawson.