Festival of Footbal 2002

Having asked the under 10’s squad back in September 2001 who was interested in going on tour, I had a final squad of 8 before Christmas. Barry & Julie Lee offered to arrange the booking and everything was in place for the 3rd May. I was hopeful the boys would do well, but we had never played any of the opposition before & did not know how high the quality of football would be. In our squad were Dan Bygrave, Jordan Anderson, Antony Glover, Ben Kemp, Scott Norval, Kieran Harrison, Callum Roberts and Taylor Morris. Unfortunately Jordan had to withdraw on the eve of the tour, so we travelled down to Pontins at Camber with a bare 7 players.

Our Saturday games were played in the afternoon & we managed 2 wins, against Norsemen Youth & Romney Cougars, as well as a Draw against Real 60. The quality of football was very high and all the boys played exceptionally well. I wondered if we would be nervous in our first game, especially as we had none of our recognised defenders with us, but the boys played brilliantly, stroking the ball about with confidence and scoring 3 wonderful goals, winning 3-0. Ben was injured against Romney Cougars and having no sub meant we played for a time with only 6 players. Twice falling behind we battled back to win 3-2. A 0-0 draw against Real 60 saw the team play the most organised football of our entire season. We defended magnificently and were under pressure for the entire first half. In the 2nd half we had the wind with us and wave after wave of attacks were thwarted by some excellent defending by our opposition. It was ‘total football’ in my opinion, as every player fought for each other. Luckily we also ran into Danny Dolan & as I was concerned about Ben’s injury we invited Bimbam to join us for the Saturday and Sunday games.

Sunday saw 2 games, and 2 wins. Firstly we beat Herne Bay Youth 4-1. This was the score at half time so I took the opportunity to change things around. Ben went sub as Bimbam came on as striker for his first game, Scott dropped into defence with Taylor with Anthony pushed up into midfield. It didn’t make for pretty football and Antony had to come off with a bloody nose. This prompted Dan to come out on pitch and Ben to deputise in goal. I think the players enjoyed having a different role to play though. Secondly we beat Eastlea Colts 3-0 with another great display of football. We ended the day in 1st place with only 3 games remaining. Sunday night was presentation night at Pontins & as Kevin & myself took the boys on stage to meet Alan Mullery & to receive their trophies for taking part, they looked so smart in their matching tops. Unfortunately the official photographer was missing, so we all missed out on our official photos. We consoled ourselves over a few beers, together with some wonderful dancing displays from some of the mums until the early hours.

Monday morning and we had to pack. Our final games were in the afternoon and we new 3 wins would see us as champions. Our first game was against Wealdstone JFC. We managed a 1-0 victory but although dominating the 1st half we could not hit the target. I reminded the boys to aim for the net between the two white sticks to try to help them. By half time the players were getting frustrated, and our football was suffering. Maybe it was the pressure, or the late night we had all had, but we battled on and scored the winning goal in the second half. Next came AFC Wasps & the boys were back to their best. We won easily 4-1 and all the players played exceptionally well. Our final game was against Amec Youth, who had lost all of their previous games. Again the boys played exceptionally well, even though I was making substitutions every 4 or 5 minutes to give them all a run out. The result was 5-0. We ended the day as joint winners as Real 60 FC had also won all their other games. The atmosphere at the presentation was friendly as Alan Clarke, secretary of the London FA, awarded the winning cup & trophies.

I had intended to give a player of the tournament award to our most outstanding player, but this was impossible. Every player played their part. They all got along well over the whole weekend, both on and off the pitch & I felt that the 8 players had learnt an important lesson about being part of a team. To say I was proud would be an understatement, as Sue and Kevin can vouch for, as on the way home we got stuck in a traffic jam & I leapt from my car with our winners cup held high, and did a lap of honour around both cars. I don’t know what other motorists thought of a short fat bloke running about shouting ‘Champions’, but to be honest I don’t really care. It must have rubbed off on Sue as just as I got back in my car, Sue was out of hers with Kierans trophy doing a lap as well.

We went - we played - we conquered and I was proud to be associated with these 8 boys who gave their all for their friends over a wonderful weekend. "Well Done Champions" .

2002 League Table - A West Division

2002 Fixtures & Results

2001 League Table - B West Division

2001 Fixtures & Results