On 22 October the young academy players took part in the EFL festivals weekend.
The boys travelled to play their respective age groups against fellow Category 3 academies across the north-west region.
The home games were played at Newton Rigg College - many thanks to Laura and her team for hosting us.
Each age group, from U9 through to the U13, played in a variety of mixed game formats which allowed the players to experience different challenges whilst competing to be top of the table come the end of the tournaments.
The U9s, U12s and U13s we victorious in their competitive fixtures, progressing to the final and winning their competition, whilst the U10s came runners up narrowly losing to Preston North End in the final.
Our U11s came third beating Preston North End in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
All of the players enjoyed the experience and look forward to the next EFL festivals weekend, which will take place later in the season.
Lead Foundation Phase Coach Warren Matthews said: “It was a thoroughly enjoyable day for all the players in the foundation phase with all age groups enjoying the competitive and fun nature of these festivals, and with the respective age groups enjoying games against Preston, Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, Shrewsbury and Port Vale.”
Lead Youth Development Phase Coach John Foley said: “Our U12s and U13s were involved in the surviving EFL festivals, due to storm Babet.
“The U12s played two 5v5 tournaments, away at Stockport, whilst the u13s took part in an 11v11 tournament away at Oldham.
“Both were victorious in their respective competitions. We would like to thank the hosts, all the players and coaches, and the parents for traveling down to support the teams.”
Academy manager Simon Friel commented: “The EFL festivals/tournaments have been introduced from last season and add something different to the games programme.
“We have had good success with these tournaments in the past and it’s great to see that this has continued into this season.
“The nature of these festivals being competitive adds to the games that are played and allows the players to experience different pressures and challenges compared to developmental fixtures.
“Thank you to the parents who have travelled to the various locations enabling their child to participate and represent the club at these tournaments.
“Well done to the players and coaches who all represented the club so well and have achieved success against the other academy teams who participated on the day.”
