Female Football Development
On Saturday 14th May 2016 Blackpool FC Community Trust took a representative team from its Female Football Development project (FFD) to Wembley to compete in a national tournament featuring FFD teams from all over the country.
On arrival at Wembley the team found out they were placed in a group with QPR, Arsenal, West Brom, and Barnet. The tournament was to be played on the Power League 5 aside pitches located in the shadow of Wembley Stadium.
The first game v QPR was an even affair finishing 1-1 while the second match finished 3-1 to a strong Arsenal team. West Brom then got the better of Blackpool winning 3-1 before a 1-1 draw against Barnet. Blackpool FFD now could not qualify for the tournament trophy but instead qualified for the Consolation Cup with a knockout match versus local rivals Wigan. A tight and tense match finished 1-1 with Blackpool snatching a dramatic last minute equaliser. The match then went to penalties with Wigan eventually winning the shoot out 3-2.
To get over the disappointment of the loss the FFD team then headed over to Wembley Stadium to watch the Women’s FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Chelsea. Arsenal ladies won 1-0 in a cracker of a game, which the Blackpool FFD girls were very impressed with.
