On Sunday 23rd May 2010 MFC in the Community in partnership with McDonald’s played host to the Annual Riverside Festival. This yearly event has grown since its inauguration in 2007 and was bigger and better than ever before. Once again local football clubs from across the region were out in full force with 82 teams taking part and over 800 children getting the chance to play on the same pitch as their heroes. This year’s tournament was sponsored by Mcdonalds, and played host to teams from all over the North East with a strong contingency from Newcastle, Sunderland and North Yorkshire joining local teams from across Teesside.
Running alongside the festival was a Mcdonalds Open Day, which saw players and spectators given access to a wide range of fun football activities which included an Overhead Kick inflatable, Target Ring, Speed Cage and skills area.
Due to the scale of the event we were also lucky enough to attract World Cup legend, Sir Geoff Hirst. This was a massive coup for MFC in the Community to have such an influential figure attend the Festival. On the day he took part in a Q&A session with players and spectators, he signed autographs and ended his visit by supporting the Under 9’s presentation. Sir Geoff Hirst is a massive supporter of grassroots football and was very impressed with the day and the work of MFC in the Community. In a press interview he stated, “We work on football projects throughout the UK, where we get involved with football clubs and the community projects. Boro is one of the best in the country.”
Also in attendance was McDonald’s Head Coach Eric Harrison, former Manchester United Youth Academy Manager. For all the local coaches and club managers this was a great opportunity to learn a little from an exceptional coach who had trained the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. Through the afternoon he delivered a range of sessions to children and adults, offering great advice and tips to everyone. He also joined the Q&A session to talk about his experiences coaching some of the best players in the world.
The tournament itself kicked off at 9am and the standard of football was very high, with the children clearly loving the opportunity to play at the stadium. The Under 8’s players, took part in a non competetive element, and were all awarded a participation medal thanks to sponsors Inbiz. Billingham Rangers were chosen at random for the photograph.
The Under 9’s saw a return to competitive football with 21 teams taking part in the group stages, followed by Semi Finals and Finals. All the teams and managers had the added motivation of getting to the final and having their awards presented by Sir Geoff Hirst. The group games served up some exciting football with 81 goals being scored across the four pitches. Teams from North Yorkshire all the way up to Gateshead were aiming to progress to the semi finals. In the end Redcar Town, Washington FC Tigons, Teesside Athletic and Humbledon Yellows all won their groups. The eventual finalists were Teesside Athletic and Washington FC Tigons. As expected the final was a very tight affair with both teams having there chances. In the end it was Jordan Woodhall of Teesside Athletic who broke the deadlock and this proved to be the winning goal. You could clearly see what it meant to the winning team who then had the pleasure of collecting their trophies from a World Cup Legend. The Under 9’s sponsor was Arena Technical Services who have supported the event since 2007. Wayne Burkill is a massive supporter of grass roots football but sadly could not attend on the day. MFC in the Community are extremely grateful for Wayne’s continued support of the festival over the last four years.
Next to step out on to the famous Riverside pitch was the Under 10’s. The group stages of this age category were a lot tighter with a total of 60 goals being scored across four pitches. There were actually more draws than wins throughout the tournament, with two of the four groups being decided on goal difference. It was unfortunate for those teams who just missed out on the semi finals by 1 or 2 goals. Sadly, someone had to go through and the semi finals were contested by two teams from Teesside and two teams from Newcastle. The first semi final between South Tyneside Saints and Norton and Stockton Ancients served up one of the best penalty shootouts in Riverside Festival history. Players showed exceptional finishing with it going to sudden death. In the end every player had taken a penalty which meant we had to start the process again with the first takers stepping back up. Eventually South Tyneside Saints held there nerve to creep through to the final. The second semi final saw Newcastle City Juniors defeat Redcar Town 2 setting up a bit of a derby in the final. Once again the final proved to be a very tight affair with no one team dominating the game. Like the previous final one goal was the difference with South Tyneside Saints eventually being crowned champions with Luke Collins grabbing the winner. Visual Soft Web Solutions our under 10’s sponsors were on hand to present the winners and runners up medals. Visual Soft have also been strong supporters of the Riverside Festival over the years and we were delighted they could send down members of the company to be a part of the day.
The tournament was now in its final stages with the Under 11’s stepping into the Arena. We had some strong teams returning from 2009 desperate to lift this year’s trophy. The under 11’s served up some of the best football of the day with a total of 90 goals being scored in the group stages. Two dominant group performances from Redcar Rovers and Marton Boys Blues suggested both teams would be a force in the latter stages. Norton Bees pipped Teesside Athletic and Marton Boys Whites to set up and semi final against Marton Boys Blues. Whilst FNB, last years champions, scraped through on goal difference with there defensive performance proving to be the key ahead of Foresthall Juniors a Newcastle based club. This set up another great semi final between FNB and Redcar Rovers. The place in the final was very much up for grabs but it was Marton Boys Blues and Redcar Rovers who proved to be the strongest teams in the competition, setting up a very interesting final. As expected the final game of the day was extremely tight with both teams playing some great football. Marton were the team to grab the decisive goal, making them the 2010 Champions. This wrapped up an amazing day which had been greatly enhanced by the teams and spectators who once again turned out in full force to support such a great event.
Big thanks must go out to Middlesbrough Football Club and all the stadium staff that helped make the day happen. We recognise it is a great privilege to run a tournament on such a big stage and we are very grateful for their support. It is fair to say McDonald’s and all their team also helped to make the Festival bigger and better than ever before and we hope this partnership will continue in years to come. Final thanks must go to all of this years sponsors, Sabic UK Petrochemicals, Inbiz, Arena Technical Services and Visual Soft Web Solutions. It is great that local businesses continue to support grass roots football in this way. We hope everyone involved had an enjoyable day and we look forward to doing the same again in May 2011.
