Rochdale Football Club organised its first community football tournament at Springhill Sports Centre on 090208. The tournament was split into 2 age groups U12s and U16s. The turnout was overwhelming with nearly 20 teams ready to participate in the friendly tournament.

The event was organised by Rochdale AFC Community Cohesion Officer Azmat Khan who told us that "the tournament was to target the socially deprived and the BME communities and to help build bridges and breakdown any barriers that we have in our society. The teams were from all over Rochdale, from different backgrounds, different cultures and different races. It was fantastic to see that FOOTBALL could easily unify all the differences and host such a wonderful tournament. The event itself was played under good spirit and all respected each other."

"The main objective of such community tournaments is to help steer kids off the street and give them the opportunity to participate in an organised event. I feel that kids are most vulnerable to cause trouble when they are bored or have nothing to do, so this was perfect to get the kids on the right track. The teams were developed by themselves and it was good to see the amount of teams that entered."
 
"I knew that there would be great talent on show and invited scouts from the club to have a look. The scouts were taken back by the turnout and some of the talent that breeds within our communities. They have taken a few names and will be inviting them to a trial in the very near future."

The event would not have been successful if it wasn't for the volunteers that helped referee and organise the tournament, so a special thank you from the club goes to Amar, Ifraz, Dewan, Dave and Nas.

Back to the football... In the U12s final it was between Wardle Allstars and Deepy Allstars. The game was exciting and after full time was poised at 1-1. The crowd all gathered round and the nerves were showing on the young players. The penalty shoot was won by Deepy Allstars who celebrated a win they would never forget.

The U16s final was between Anti Racism and Wardle "A". It was a very competitive game and Anti Racism were to strike first blow with a great move. They then quickly got a second goal and were chasing Wardle down. Wardle composed themselves and played there football and were rewarded with a superb worked goal. It was not enough and Anti Racism clinched the title.

The club intends to hold more tournaments throughout the year and will encouraging more teams to enter and make the next tournament even bigger.