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2008 Festival an unqualified success
Budding stars from all over the north-west headed for Salford Sports Village on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th June 2008, with age groups of under-7 to under-10 and a separate girls-only section for under-10 and under-12 teams.
This unique competition concentrates solely on mini soccer and has an ethos that is very different to other tournaments organised in the North West. The fair play ethos means that match scores are not recorded and there are no overall winners. Fair play marks are awarded by match referees after each game, allowing for a series of fair play trophies to be decided for each group of five teams. This makes for a pressure free environment in which the children can develop their football skills. Every child was a winner and went home with a festival medal and fun-packed goodie bag.
The goals for the festival were "IGOAL" from Redyset, an inflatable goal which is extremely safe should a child collide with it. This was the first football festival of this size to use the "IGOAL" exclusively and is testimony to the ethos and approach to junior football taken by Manchester FA, which is setting the standard for others to follow.
A team all the way from Fife in Scotland came and played at the festival, and hosts Manchester FA, New Deal for Communities, and Salford Community Leisure, were thrilled that the good reputation of the festival had spread far and wide.
The coach of the young Scottish players, Andrew Fowler, told the festival team "We heard about the festival through a friend of one of our coaches, who had nothing but good things to say about the festival. I think there is a good chance that there will be more Scottish teams coming down for the festival, as we promoted it to other teams in our league."
Comments from other teams have included:
Just to say a big thank you and all your staff from AFC Stanley under-7s on what was a wonderful well organised event. This was our first year and everyone mentioned what a fantastic day it was and we will definitely be coming back next year. Once again well done."
Just a quick note to say a big thank you to the team for putting on a fantastic event this weekend. Every aspect of this event was first class and I cannot compliment you enough. All the kids had a ball!"
Local housing management organisation, Salix Homes, was the title sponsor of the festival. Chris Gibbins, Director of Neighbourhood Services at Salix Homes, said: "We are proud to have this opportunity to support such an exciting event that really helps bring people together in Central Salford and beyond. We hope that our association with the Salford Mini Soccer Festival shows our commitment to helping create stronger communities in Central Salford and makes it more than just a place to live."
Thanks go to Salix, as well as associate sponsors Miller Homes, Umbro and Shokk, for helping to make sure the Festival was a huge success.
And finally, a round of applause goes to each and every one of the volunteers who gave up their time and expertise to help the event run smoothly - the weekend simply could not have happened without them.
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Programme prize draw
The Festival prize draw was made during the final presentation of the weekend, and there are various prizes waiting to be claimed. The list of winers is as follows:
- Prize 1: Manchester United shirt signed by Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Edwin Van Der Sar and Gary Neville
Programme number 405 - Prize 2: England shirt signed by Sir Trevor Brooking, Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen
Programme number 802 - Prize 3: England shirt signed by Alan Shearer
Programme number 102 - Prize 4: Manchester City signed football
Programme number 1912 - Prize 5: Oldham Athletic signed team shirt
Programme number 1845 - Prize 6: Bury FC signed team shirt
Programme number 745 - Prize 7: Bolton Wanderers signed football
Programme number 84 - Prize 8: Umbro match ball signed by Michael Owen
Programme number 675 - Prize 9: Umbro match ball signed by Owen Hargreaves
Programme number 152 - Prizes 10 & 11: Umbro mini football signed by Sir Trevor Brooking
Programme numbers 395 & 589 - Prize 12 & 13: Umbro club packs (balls, bibs, pump, cones)
Programme numbers 1690 & 1752 - Prize 14: Set of Igoals by Readyset
Programme number 1535 - Prizes 15, 16 & 17: Four-person family passes to the Manchester United tour and museum
Programme numbers 35, 695 & 902 - Prize 18, 19 & 20: Three-month leisure passes to SCL Fit City centres
Programme numbers 56, 803 & 890
If you are a winner, you can claim your prize by exchanging your programme either in person at the Manchester FA office at the Salford Sports Village or by posting it to Festival Prize Draw, Manchester FA, Salford Sports Village, Littleton Road, Lower Kersal, Salford, M7 3NQ.
other press releases
please select a press release to download:
2008 Festival an unqualified success (June 2008)
Scottish team signs up (May 2008)
Owen adds his support (April 2008)
Festival entries flying in (March 2008)
United star brings smiles to Children's Hospital (October 2007)
Sir Trevor kicks off 2008 festival (October 2007)
Will the Girls Beat The Boys? (April 2007)
Ryan Giggs Launches 2007 Festival (February 2007)
Soccer Festival's Donation to Children's Hospital (December 2006)
Nation's Biggest Stand-alone Mini Soccer Festival Hits Salford (July 2006)
England star shows his support (June 2006)
United starlet launches Festival (March 2006)