This week we held our annual EFL U13s Girls Cup, with a record number of teams entering the tournament!
The tournament consisted of 13 teams from 10 different schools and well over 100 girls aged 11-13 from a range of Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Secondary Schools. This was a fantastic opportunity for our Female Football Development department to run a mass engagement event and to inspire local girls to play more football. The winners gain the incredible opportunity to represent Blackpool FC Community Trust in the Northwest Regional Finals.
After a fantastic effort from all of the teams, the group stages finished with Lytham St Annes and South Shore Academy topping their groups, and with Millfield and Hodgson finishing as runners up.
A dramatic Semi Final penalty shootout between Hodgson and Lytham St Annes saw a sudden death victory for LSA, with both teams scoring over 10 penalties each. Millfield played out an impressive 1-0 win against an extremely talented South Shore team to set up a fantastic final against the reigning champions Lytham St Annes.
A close fought Final saw Millfield strike first to take the lead. In an extremely close game LSA courageously fought back scoring a late equalising goal. With nothing separating the two teams the game was concluded with another penalty shootout. After some well-taken penalties from both teams, the LSA goalkeeper pulled off an excellent winning save to crown them champions. This saw Lytham St Annes take home the trophy as EFL u13s Girls Cup champions for the 3rd time in a row!
Well done to Lytham St Annes for being repeat champions and a huge well done to all the girls involved who not only performed excellently all morning but also displayed a superb attitude throughout the entirety of the tournament. We had fantastic feedback from players and teachers, with an enjoyable day had by all.
Female Football Officer, Shane Cotterill:
“It was a fantastic day of football and incredible to see so many girls aged 11-13 years old participating and engaging in football, all displaying a huge amount of talent and superb attitudes. All the girls should be extremely proud of themselves. Well done to LSA who will represent us in the next round of the tournament.”
