Great turnout marks Trysull Tigers' 25th

The South Staffordshire-based outfit hosted a massive youth football tournament at Ounsdale School in Wombourne to mark its latest milestone.

It's the second time the the club have held such an event, having launched the competition last year, and club vice-chairman Karl Woodhouse was delighted with the way it went.

He said: "It was a great way to mark the 25th anniversary. It went really well, we had teams coming from the local area and all over the Midlands.

"We had teams from Derby, Leicester and Birmingham among others and there was some great football on display from start to finish. It was a resounding success."

The tournament saw almost 200 matches played over eight pitches across two days, supported by a dedicated army of 45 volunteers.

Woodhouse said: "We have already had a lot of positive feedback from a lot of the managers that were there.

"We sent a message to all the managers the day after the tournament asking for their opinions on the event.

"Many told me it was the most organised tournament they had been to, that it was a friendly event, it was well run and the facilities were good which is, obviously, very pleasing.

"This is the second time we have done this tournament and we are aiming to put it on again next year at the same place."

There were four different age group competitions played over the weekend with the under-sixes and sevens playing five-a-side football on Saturday and the under-eights and nines playing seven-a-side the following day

There was plenty of glory for local teams to celebrate with Penn Colts winning the under-six category, and Halesowen Town Youth winning the under-sevens on day one.

Forest Falcons from Stourbridge completed a local hat-trick of winners by lifting the under-eights trophy.

But Birstall United, from Leicester, prevented a clean sweep by West Midlands sides as they won the Under-nines trophy.

They had triumphed in the lower age group the previous year and made a successful return to the tournament 12 months later.

Penn had to hold their nerve in a dramatic penalty shoot-out after drawing 0-0 with Coventry Copsewood after extra-time in their final.

They duly did so, winning 5-4 on spot-kicks, while Halesowen beat Tipton Town 1-0 in a tense finale to win the under-sevens.

Forest Falcons beat Edge Hill from Burton-on-Trent 3-1 in their final while Birstall edged out Headless Cross from Redditch 1-0 to round off the under-nines event.

Regardless of results though, every player involved took home a medal for participating in the event.

And Woodhouse was not the only one who was impressed with the standard of football displayed by around 650 boys and girls.

He added scouts from professional sides including Wolves, Birmingham City, Shrewsbury Town, Manchester United, Everton and Stoke City were also watching with interest.

A number of players are believed to have caught the eye during the event.

The tournament was the idea of Woodhouse's, who saw several other local sides holding competitions on a similar scale and he felt Trysull should be doing something similar.

Club chairman Arthur Patrick reckons the competition has grown in stature since the first instalment last year.

He said: "There was a lot more local interest this year and it was better attended which was great to see.

"We had very good weather this year which definitely helped swell the numbers who came along to watch.

"There were a lot of family members who attended, but we also had a lot of other local people coming to have a look because it was such a nice day, especially on the second day."

The tournament was not blessed with such fine weather the previous year, in which torrential downpours saw the first day postponed and rearranged.

The second day went ahead as planned but the first day was played at a later date at Trysull Playing Fields.

Club bosses are now looking to the future, as they prepare to add to the club's burgeoning history. They intend to make the event an enduring annual mainstay in the club's calendar.

Fittingly, they will begin next season with their largest ever number of teams representing the club. A total of 25 sides will fly the flag for Tigers from under-sevens up to adult football.

The club, whose first team play in the West Midlands League, have seen six new sides created during the close season.

Woodhouse said: "We have never had 25 teams play for us before. We have formed two new under-sevens teams, as well.

"We have a new under-eights team, a new Under-nines side, a new under-11s team that will play Saturday football in the Midlands Junior Premier League and a new under-21s team.

"That means we have got two teams at every age group from under-sevens up to under-13s and as time progresses that will become two in every age group."