Lessons were put on hold for Years Five and Six children as they escaped the classroom for the afternoon to represent their schools with pride at Arsenal Football Club’s Academy Training Ground in Walthamstow for the Malcolm Moffatt Trophy Small-Sided Finals, with schools from Thurrock and Uttlesford amongst the winners on Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th February.
Inside in the ‘Dome’ the schools took part in a ‘round-robin’ competition organised by the Essex County FA to determine the county champions who will now compete in the regional finals at the London Marathon Ground in Greenwich on Saturday 27th March. The sides taking part were the top two from the Essex and London Boroughs competitions held in November, which included Loughton’s Hereward School, Godwin from Dagenham and St Margaret’s, also from the Boroughs.
Both the boys’ and the girls’ tournaments went down to the wire, with the final matches identifying Woodside from Thurrock as the winners in the girls’ seven-a-side competition, while Uttlesford’s Felsted Primary finished as runners-up. Stanford-le-Hope also made sure it was a Thurrock ‘one-two’ as they won the boys’ section just ahead of St Mary’s from Havering. The winning schools plan to travel together on a special team bus.
Last season Leigh-on-Sea’s Heycroft Primary line-up alongside Ursuline Preparatory of Warley as Essex’s representatives in the regional finals. Gloucester-based Harewood School eventually prevailed in the national boys’ final in mid-June, while St Paul’s from High Wycombe and Rushcliffe’s Abbey Road shared the girls’ equivalent after a tense goalless draw in the final. Both matches were played at Wembley Stadium.
Jen Ryder, Team Manager of Woodside’s gleeful girls’ team, admitted they couldn’t wait for the regional finals, explaining: “The girls are all really pleased with themselves and they’re looking forward to the day. We’d attended the County finals before and knew the standard was good although we had a decent team ourselves and always hoped we could do well. We’ve been working closely with Stanford-le-Hope and congratulated each other, now the teams in the regionals should be a pretty good test for us both.”
Mini-soccer is the form of football most predominately played in primary schools and ECFA Education Development Officer, Lana Gillard, said: “The quality of the football was very high throughout and there were a number of nail-biting games! We’d like to thank Dave Playford from the Essex County Schools FA for helping us organise the even as well as the Arsenal Academy for hosting the finals at their wonderful facilities, which added to a fantastic experience for all the children taking part.”
For further information on developing football within Essex schools, or details on how to enter future schools tournaments, contact Essex County Football Association Education Development Officer, Lana Gillard, on (01245) 393073 or via E-Mail at lana.gillard@essexfa.com.