Eagles tournament is a soaraway success

And Kewford Eagles' ambitious chief Lee Small also revealed that it was just the start for the club who are looking to further improve their impressive Eagle Park base in Kingswinford.

More than 200 clubs entered the tournament and the weekend came blessed with glorious weather and the help of willing volunteers to ensure its smooth running throughout.

Small said: "It was an absolutely brilliant weekend. There was lots of very good football and lots of lovely weather which always helps!

"It's great to see so many people enjoy themselves. That was enough to make it a complete and utter success.

"There were so many young footballers having a good time and enjoying themselves. From the ages of six up to 18, boys and girls.

"I was pleasantly surprised by all of the ability. You expect the older ones to be good players but to have young kids running around with talent it makes it special."

It was the second year the club had been able to host the event at their new base, Eagle Park, that opened in April of last year.

The club were able to use last year's experience and tweak things to make the tournament better for everyone involved.

"There were well over 200 teams in attendance. That was a little down on last year but we planned for that," added Small.

"Last year it was a bit up in the air and we didn't cater for the amount of teams that came. This year we were on top of it and far more organised.

"The volunteers were parents that were willing to put in time to come and help us on the day and they did a fantastic job.

"The ladies with the catering were great and we are just as grateful to them. Everything needed setting up and taking down and the help we had was phenomenal.

"From a chairman's point of view I couldn't be any happier about the whole thing."

The club chairman, who also co-manages Kewford's Under-16 side was impressed by the standard but insists he remains keen for the tournament to branch out.

He said: "Most of the teams we had were from the Stourbridge League. It was very competitive and there wasn't any drubbings.

"But we're looking to go further afield and advertise in other areas of the country. It would be good for the sides that compete to play against kids from different areas."

The event's guests of honour, Dudley Mayor and Mayoress Steve and Jayne Waltho, handed out the prize medals to the winners.

"They were more than complimentary to us," said Small. "Steve is a football man and he came and walked with me as I showed him the matches.

"They handed the medals to the kids and that was a nice moment. All of the finalists got medals while the Under-7s all received a medal as their event was non-competitive."

The event was overshadowed with a tinge of sadness with the news of the devastating attack in Tunisia that claimed the life of young midland referee Joel Richards, who was known to a number of the event's officials.

"All of the age ranges held a minute's silence in memory of Joel," said Small.

"That was special to see, particularly that the youngsters were able to adhere to such a poignant moment. It was a source of great pride."

Looking ahead, Small wants the club to use their growing success to expand their already spectacular complex.

"The next project will then be to improve our base. We will look at building a clubhouse and also installing more floodlights," he said.

"The clubhouse is a goal for us.

We have 30-acres here at Eagle Park so there is definitely scope for us. We've come on leaps and bounds in our second year here and we aim to take the whole club further afield."