How We Planned a 7-Year-Old’s Football Legends Party
Planning a child’s birthday party is no small task - especially when you need to keep a dozen excitable seven-year-olds entertained for two hours straight!
But luckily Anya is an expert in this field.
She makes every birthday party extra special and spent countless hours researching football birthday party ideas for kids.
Why? Because our eldest son Ryan knew exactly what he wanted for his seventh birthday: a Football Legends party.
Deciding on the Theme
We’re not just talking about the current superstars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe…
We’re also talking about household names of yesteryear such as Pele, Diego Maradona and Eric Cantona.
Ryan is a HUGE fan of them all, and only had one request when it came to presents: legendary kits to wear when he’s practicing his skills.
With the party theme sorted, it was time to plan how the party would look. Green as the main colour was an obvious starting point.
We then used social media platforms Pinterest and Instagram for DIY football birthday decorations ideas.
DIY Touches That Made a Difference
Anya enjoys making every party feel ultra personalised and spent time making a number of items by hand: a football-themed cake topper, puntastic food signs, half-time refreshments station, labels for party bags, cold cups, and the birthday invite - designed using PosterMyWall.
Ryan helped to come up with some of the food signs. His personal favourite?
'Kevin De Brownies' - named, of course, after the former Manchester City midfielder.
Others we made included:
'Scholes Sausage Rolls'
'Garnachos' (Just before he left Man Utd for Chelsea, hence the red kit!)
'Messi’s Marshmallows'
'Haaland’s Hotdogs'.
‘Maradonuts’
Things We Bought
In terms of where to buy football party supplies, we wanted to keep costs down and used Card Factory and The Range (big budget stores here in the UK) for various items including cups, plates, napkins, and hanging decorations.
The sweet cones were from eBay, while the rest of the items were picked up elsewhere online.
Extra Details That Stood Out
The 'Welcome To The Show' Sky Sports box was sent to me separately before the party, but we put it to good use on the day: adding in football-themed sweets the kids could take home with them.
Something else we had to carefully consider was how to keep the kids entertained.
The highlight was an inflatable penalty shootout from a local company called Bump & Jump, which Ryan and his friends absolutely loved.
We also added a few extras to make the day even more fun: a box with cones, captain’s armband, offside flag, ball pump, an area for tattoos, and three party games.
One of the party games involved slowly revealing the face of a legendary footballer and getting the kids to guess who it might be.
Lots of fun, even if some of the seven-year-olds had no idea who Thierry Henry was!
Free Download: 7 Quick Football Party Games That Kids Love
The biggest challenge with a kids' football party is keeping the young ones entertained once the sugar rush kicks in and the footballs start flying over fences.
That’s why we've put together a completely FREE guide:
7 Quick Football Party Games That Keep Kids Entertained
It’s a collection of simple, fun, and tried-and-tested ideas we used at Ryan’s party - a HUGE help on the day.
Inside our free guide you’ll get:
Step-by-step instructions for SEVEN different games football-mad kids love 📝
Minimal equipment needed (balls, cones, and a few other basics) ⚽
Ideal back-up plan for when novelty of the penalty shootout runs out! 🎯
👉 Grab your free copy below to make your party planning stress-free!👇
No spam. Just helpful football family tips & resources.
You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy.
Party Bags
Rather than the standard party bag, we did something a bit different by handing out football-themed drawstring party bags.
We’ll be sharing more on football-themed party bag ideas soon as you may want to use the same football party bag idea, but another detail worth mentioning here was the personalised cold cups we added inside - a take-home gift for every child who attended Ryan’s party, complete with their name and favourite team.
Top Tips We Learned
If you’ve been inspired to organise a similar party for your football-obsessed little one, here are a few things worth noting:
Make sure there are plenty of footballs for the penalty shootout
(But avoid harder balls, unless you have plenty of space). You will be knocking on your neighbours’ doors to retrieve lost balls!The inflatable penalty shootout was the highlight of the party - worth every penny
Have two cakes: one for display and photos, and another pre-sliced to pop straight into party bags. It’s a lifesaver when everyone is going home and time is tight.
Overall, Ryan’s Football Legends party was everything he’d hoped for: football, fun, friends, and unforgettable memories.
The inflatable penalty shootout will certainly be back in our garden the same time next year!
If you’re planning your own football-themed party, let us know in the comments or tag us on Instagram @StarletMediaUK - we’d love to see your ideas!
Before you go…
Don’t forget to scroll up and download our FREE football party game ideas PDF!