Silverdale serve up a footballing feast

The event, in its 18th year, is one of the biggest of its kind in the region and received glowing feedback from clubs that had travelled from as far as north Staffordshire to participate.

Volunteers, ranging from managers, assistants, wives, girlfriends and even players helped keep the weekend ticking over resulting in some great action across the age ranges for both boys and girls.

At the beginning of both days there was a minute's applause held in memory of Joel Richards, one of the victims of the Tunisian massacre. Richards, an up-and-coming referee, had officiated in the Silverdale tournament in 2012 and 2013.

Hosts Silverdale, who currently have 23 teams, were victorious as Silverdale Lions Under-12s won their section.

Club secretary, Gareth Cowley, said: "It was a really good weekend. All the hard work going into organising and running it pays off and it's really satisfying.

"We had about 170 teams and there were a lot of good comments.

"They are mostly the same clubs you have had from a young age that continue to come because they know how well we run it.

"But it's nice to get some word of mouth. I try and speak to as many of the managers that I can and the feedback is generally great.

"You get the odd negativity because you can't please everyone.

"But the credit must go to the volunteers. Without them none of it would be possible and we're extremely grateful for that."

One particular asset of the tournament that encouraged the club was the numner of girls teams that entered. Despite the tournament only being open to girls for a few years, the entry levels are visibly growing.

"It's nice to get more girls through and entering," he added.

"Recently we didn't have a girls section of the tournament but we've added it and you can certainly see we are getting more female teams involved.

"We had clubs come from Stoke and Newcastle under Lyme.

"We used to let academies in and they were coming from everywhere, but we've regionalised it and found it much more competitive because of that."

For Silverdale, the tournament is a key fundraiser in launching them towards their goal of developing their Walsall-base.

Walstead Road has been the club's home for a number of years and Cowley revealed they are looking to expand the existing mobile buildings and containers into a full-size clubhouse.

The secretary added: "We want a focal point that we can call a real home.

It would be a huge step for us.

"We can apply for grants and are really well supported by the Staffordshire FA."

n Anyone interested in joining Silverdale, on a playing or voluntary bases, should email Gareth on bamba@talktalk.net