It’s promising to be a soccer summer in Kamloops as two U21 English Premier League teams will spend time in Canada’s Tournament Capital.

The U21 men’s team from London-based Fulham’s and the U21 women’s team from Birmingham-based Aston Villa’s U21 will train and play matches in Kamloops in July and August. Fulham will be here from July 25 to August 3 followed by Aston Villa from August 5 to 18.

“It’s been hard for me to keep a secret, we’ve been working on this a long time,” Kamloops Youth Soccer Association President Dino Bernardo told NL Sports. “With the support of the City and Tourism Kamloops, we will finally be able to pull this off. We’re excited.”

“These players are the next generation of those EPL teams. These are the players that will be called up to the top club next. This could be just the start for these types of events. Our facilities are fantastic and these teams enjoy what we have to offer them. It’s a win-win.”

In a statement, Sean Cullen, the Fulham’s Academy Director said the team is “delighted” to be visiting Kamloops later this summer.

“With one eye on the World Cup in two years time, we are excited about working with Rebirth Soccer, Thompson University, Rivers FC and the City of Kamloops to support the further development of football in Canada,” Cullen said.

“We will be bringing a squad that recently won the Premier League Cup and I know the players and staff are excited about playing against some of the best teams from the region.”

Josephine Cottam, the Girls Academy Operations Manager for Aston Villa, said they’ll also be bringing over a squad that is full of “exciting young talent” with some players having recently featured at the women’s U17 European Championships.

“For the development of women’s football, as our country enters the qualifying rounds of the Euros as the current holders, we hope for big crowds to come along and see how exciting this young group are,” Cottam said.

A joint partnership between Rivers FC, the City of Kamloops, Tourism Kamloops, and KYSA, the next task for organizers is to find teams with a comparable skill level to play the two visiting teams in six total matches.

While dates for the matches itself have yet to be announced, it will be played at Hillside Stadium with tickets priced between $15 and $30.

In addition to the matches, organizers say there will be a series of community engagements including youth soccer clinics and opportunities for local coaches to attend training sessions. The goal, they say, is to “inspire and involve the community, especially young soccer enthusiasts.”

“Hosting these globally iconic football clubs is the first step in connecting the City of Kamloops and Rivers FC to the global stage,” Rivers FC General Manager Lyle Dos Santos said.

“We are excited to share this with our community this summer and look forward to working alongside our partners to bring more first class experiences to the Tournament Capital of Canada in the future.”