The English Schools’ Football Association Cup is one of the most prestigious football competitions in the country, the standard of competition had meant that no side from Warrington has ever reached the final, until now that is.
Great Sankey High School won their 9th game of the competition to make history and set up a huge clash with Shenfield High School from Shenfield Essex.
The final will take place at the home of Championship Side West Bromwich Albion – The Hawthorne, on Monday 22ND May.
The talented side of year 7 boys have already tasted silverware this season having already lifted one trophy at the Manchester United training complex, which was a fantastic experience for the boys and staff, including Mr Edgar and Mr McCann who were both in awe of the Manchester United set up. However, this was a massive step up, entering a national competition with 635 other teams. They are now down to the final two.
The boys have swept aside some of the most highly regarded teams across the country scoring 48 goals and conceding just 10, however they are not content with just making history in reaching the final, they are determined to win it. Coach and Head of KS4 Andy McCann had this to say
“We put a lot of emphasis in the team meeting on the fact nobody remembers losing semi-finalists and that the boys had to give it their all to experience the day out at The Hawthorns,”.
“This is an experience we will want the boys to enjoy and are looking to make it as special as possible by taking them down the night before, staying in a hotel and setting it up as professionally as possible to leave no stone unturned.
“Reaching the final is obviously a massive achievement but now we have switched our focus to winning it.
“These boys are ready for the challenge and as a management team and school, we aim to give them the best possible chance to create a lasting legacy for Warrington from a football perspective.
“We want to show the country that this is not only a rugby town, but now has school football teams to be recognised nationally.”
Goals from Elliott Hardman and Jack Waters x2 put Sankey into a commanding position and looked comfortable for the majority of the game, however a late resurgence from Northampton made for a nervous final few minutes with the score at 3-2, but Sankey, led by their captain Franky-Joe Brown were strong enough to hold on and make not only the school proud, but the town of Warrington as well.
In a lovely touch to motivate the boys before the game Mr Edgar and Mr McCann asked parents to write a letter to their children to express their thoughts on the progress and achievements their children had made in football, they were then read out in the team meeting before the game.
“The boys really responded well to this and went out wanting to put on a performance for not only themselves but their families.” Mr McCann said.
I am sure you will join us all here at Great Sankey in wishing the boys the best of luck for the final on the 22nd May, they have already done themselves, the school and the town of Warrington proud and fingers crossed they can make the final step into the history books as winners of the English Schools’ Football Association Cup.
The results leading up to the final are as follows:
Round 1: Kings Leadership Academy (Warrington), won 10-0
Round 2: Reddish Vale High School (Stockport), won 13-1
Round 3: The Kings School Chester, won 3-2
Round 4: Knutsford Academy, won 3-0
Round 5: Poynton High School, won 5-1
Round 6: Kirkburton Middle School (Huddersfield), won 5-3
Round 7: St Josephs RC Academy (South Tyneside), won 4-0
Quarter-finals: Upton-by-Chester (Chester), won 2-1
Semi-finals: Northampton School for Boys, won 3-2
