Having seen the amazing results of the appeal by Delmonte and Nash and the fantastic amount of cash raised for a superb cause, I decided to try to organise a football tournament in conjunction with FollowFollow.com to raise more cash for Erskine. The event was advertised on the FF website and in the magazine and the response I got was absolutely superb.
The event took place on Sunday 18th November at the Five on 5s pitches at Prolife Gym, Paisley. Twenty teams took part and they came from all over Central Scotland to participate. Edinburgh to Largs, Erskine to Kilmarnock and many places in between. An individual from Northampton also travelled up to take part!
Guys ranging from fifteen to fifty all played. The tournament took the format of four groups of five teams and was placed in a competitive yet friendly spirit by all the teams. There were some great games in the group stages and some fantastic goals scored. Many excellent goalkeepers were on show and some fine players also. Some of the groups came down to the final game to see who would progress and in one section three teams finished on nine points meaning that group came down to goal difference. It was tough on one of the Lothian Rangers teams and BigBlueBears team being eliminated on goal difference. There were some great quarter finals and the semi finals saw two hard fought games with Paisley Loyal and FF Glasgow coming out on top.
Bobby Tait had been invited to officiate the final and many thanks to him for coming along to do so. The other referees done a fine job on the day too it must be said and a huge thanks to them. RWA and Barca and two young refs learning their trade helped make the day run smoothly and officiated the games well.
The final got under way in front of quite a large crowd. "Bigger crowd than Gretna" quipped someone! FF Glasgow got off to a flier and soon found themselves four goals in front. Massive credit goes to Paisley Loyal for not giving in and by the end of the game had turned it round to win it with some great play and cracking goals. The presentation took place on the pitch and Jaz Juttla who used to play for the Gers kindly came along to present prizes. Thanks to the Quayside Bar for the winners and runners up shields and to Follow Follow for the t-shirts. A few words were said by Jaz, Nash, Suck and myself, some photos taken then it was back indoors for the raffle and a few beers.
I must give a huge thanks to Didds and Mrs RWA for selling so many raffle tickets on the day, thanks to Foxbar for his football card (won by Nash and most of the winnings he donated!) and to everyone else who donated cash or bought raffle tickets etc. The prizes donated by the RST and by Swallow Hotel were top drawer but everything else donated was also great and many people left happy to have won a decent bottle or Gers prize. Thanks to the Prolife / 5 on Five staff and management for helping out and for their hospitality - they were amazed by the turnout.
It was a superb day and great meeting many people for the first time or reacquainting myself with some old friends. The winner on the day was Erskine and thanks to all who contributed, the total will be in the region of £1200 and I will be claiming another £500 from my employers once all the money is in and donation made to Erskine.
Thanks again to everyone who helped in any way, shape or form - it shows what a superb group of kind-hearted people follow the Rangers. The day was without doubt a success and I'd love this to happen again at least once next year. Watch this space!
I can't thank everyone who help make this a great day enough!
PaisleyProd