Ridgewood School represent Doncaster Rovers at Utilita Girls Cup

Ridgewood School represented Doncaster Rovers at the regional finals yesterday, hosted by Harrogate Town AFC Community Foundation.

They’d booked their place at the regional finals after finishing winners of the Foundation’s EFL Utilita Girls Cup local competition back in November, beating Ash Hill 3-2 on penalties.

The Utilita Girls Cups is a national tournament for junior footballers which offer children the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play at Wembley Stadium. The competition creates one of the country’s largest national football competitions, which culminate in exciting finals at Wembley Stadium in front of thousands of fans before a major national final.

In the run-up to the finals, EFL Clubs and their Football Club Charities deliver local and regional stages of the competitions.

The Foundation’s local qualifying tournament saw 21 teams in attendance, from 17 different schools within the local area, with 179 players involved throughout the day. 

Ed O’Mahony, Sports development officer, organised the local competition and spoke of the success of the day: “This season’s local EFL Utilita Girls Cup tournament was a great afternoon of football. A record number of female students took part and the standard of play was really high throughout. 

“It’s amazing to see the growth of girls’ football in local schools and it’s important for the Foundation to support the hard work of school staff by providing opportunities for their students to engage more closely with Doncaster Rovers and Doncaster Rovers Belles. 

“We’re looking forward to next season’s tournament already.”

Donned in a Doncaster Rovers kit, the girls from Ridgewood faced other FCC’s from across the region at yesterday’s tournament and went undefeated for most of the day after losing their first couple of matches.

Lead coach, Maddie Brayshaw attended with the team and was really impressed with what she saw. “The girls were amazing! After losing our first two matches we went on to be undefeated throughout the remainder of the day, finishing in the top five for the whole region. 

“The girls represented us so well and were a credit to themselves and the school.”