national competitions – Page 3 – English Schools' Football Association

The new way forward for Representative Schools’ Football

The English Schools’ FA is delighted to introduce the Champions Cup for the 21/22 season. The ESFA Champions Cup will be the overarching brand for a new set of competitions for District & County SFAs. Based on a ‘Champions Leage’ style format, with more fixtures and a defined date structure, the new competition format will be underpinned by commercial re-branding and investment funded by the ESFA’s Player Passport scheme.

We will be circulating further details on the Champions Cup in the next few days, but we are delighted to be introducing to you the new competition format, that we can look forward to launching for the 21/22 Schools’ Football season.

Representative football is a large part of the ESFA’s legacy and the introdution of the Champions Cup and Player Passport is to provide some regeneration for local rep football across England. It has been created in the hope that it will provide more frequent and regular fixtures for those girls and boys who are selected to represent their District or County, with the Player Passport creating an intelligent way to ensure that all players are eligible for all fixtures and that all representative teams are operating safely and in line with guidance.

Alongside the Champions Cup and Player Passport scheme, the ESFA will also be working on an additional volunteering campaign and support to recognise the 1000s of people who keep schools’ football alive across England, season after season.

We are looking forward to seeing what the Champions Cup competitions bring to the new season.

The English Schools' FA

The National Governing Body for Schools’ Football in England.

English Schools FA 5-a-side National Football Finals at PlayFootball on Monday 16th March 2020 (c) Garry Griffiths | ThreeFiveThree Photography

On Monday 16 March the ESFA hosted the National Finals of the indoor Footy Fives competition at PlayFootball in Birmingham.

The U12 indoor “Footy Fives” Competition, which is sponsored by trophy and medal provider Running Imp, saw 8 boys’ and 8 girls’ regional finalists travel to the heart of the country for their chance to be crowned national champions. The event kicked off with an opening ceremony, whereby each team was presented with their area champions trophies, celebrating their achievement and wishing them luck for the event.

The finals were well attended by spectators who filled the venue and lined the pitches, providing cheers and words of encouragement throughout the day.

The teams were split into two groups of 4 who all played each other in a group stage format. The top 2 teams in the group went through to the semi-finals and the bottom two teams were entered into the plate competition.

The level of football on display was high and the competition was fierce as all the teams battled for a chance to be crowned national champions.

The first girls’ finalist was St Benedict’s High School from Warwickshire who battled through a tough semi-final with a talented St James’ Catholic High School from Stockport, scoring late into extra time. They faced Shenfield High School who had shown impressive goalscoring form throughout the group stages. St Benedict’s came out victorious winning 2-1, battling for every ball and showing great determination and skill to hold on to their lead.

St Benedict’s High School- National Champions

Cardinal Newman Catholic school from Luton faced Acland Burghley from London in the boy’s final after both teams showed impressive form to win their respective groups. This was an amazing game to watch and Cardinal Newman exploded out of the blocks scoring 3 early goals. Acland Burghley fought back however scoring 3 goals in the second half to take the game to extra time. It was Cardinal Newman Catholic School however who came out on top and were crowned national champions.

Cardinal Newman Catholic School- National Champions