GirlsCup – Regional Tournament
15/01/16 – Play Football – Preston North End
Blackpool FC Community Trust (BFCCT) travelled to Preston to take part in this year’s Girls Cup Regional competition as part of our Female Football Development programme (FFD). After holding a local event in November to determine who would be representing the Trust, Lytham Saint Anne’s High School were the victors which allowed them pull on the tangerine jerseys to compete against other football clubs.
The girls have been coming to an after school club we hold at the school every Thursday evening to promote FFD for a few months now, which has given them a chance to play together regularly and enter various tournaments as a team.
Being drawn in a tough group alongside teams including, Carlisle, Burnley and Accrington Stanley, we knew it was going to be a tough day for our girls, but we managed to come away with a few good results, with our team showing huge passion and commitment from start to finish.
Unfortunately we did not manage to qualify from our group for the main competition of the day, which meant we would go through to compete for the Plate Trophy were we met Bolton Wanderers in the quarter final stage. With a brilliant performance from the whole team we booked our place comfortably in the semi-final with a 7-1 victory.
This was as far as it got for the tangerines as we were very unlucky, losing 5-4 having fought back from 4-0 down to a strong Wigan Athletic side.
Overall, the girls seemed to really enjoy the experience and were a credit to themselves, their school and us here at Blackpool FC Community Trust. We will continue to work with the girls on a weekly basis as we promote girls football in the community every day of the week, to try and get as many females involved in football as we can.
‘The girls were fantastic to take through to compete in the Regional Competition. Their commitment and enthusiasm for the game is unbelievable and great to see. We were very unlucky not to get further than what we actually did but overall they performed really well and should be very proud of themselves.’ – Mark Dolan, Blackpool FC Community Trust Inclusion Officer
‘We really enjoyed playing in the tournament today. I enjoy playing football and like it when we have the chance to play competitively against other teams.’ – Player, Lytham Saint Anne’s High School
As winners of the Local Girls Cup, we were selected to represent Blackpool F.C. Community Trust in the Regional Girls Finals on Friday at Preston Play Football. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and the girls really enjoyed it as well. They did really well in reaching the semi-finals of the plate competition, unfortunately losing 5-4 to Wigan, which is the furthest any team from LSA has got. The quality of football on show was excellent and it was good to see the abilities of other schools involved. Bring on next year! – Mr Cooper, Lytham Saint Anne’s High School Teacher
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