Whitworth footballers hope to land place in national final

Footballers at Whitworth Community High School are just one match away from a national final.

The Year 8 boys have gone one better than last year when as Year 7s they got through to the quarter finals of the of the English School’s Football Association U13s PlayStation Small Schools’ Trophy.

They are waiting for the result of another fixture to find out if they will be playing a team from Norwich or Harrogate in round 6, the semi-final.

Sam Wellington, who plays as a left winger, was also in the Year 7 side that did well last year.

He said: “There has been a massive improvement this year compared to last when we just scraped through some of the games 1-0.

“This time we have won by 13 goals to 1, 6-0 and 9-2 and our last match in Chester against Blacon High School finished 5-0 and the other team never had a shot on target.

“I scored two goals as did Oliver Brooks and Finley Leech scored one.”

New to the side is Harry Jones, 12, who plays centre midfield.

He said: “I have been playing for Whitworth Valley for three-and-a-half years and decided to try out for the school team.”

Most of the players are in other teams with Sam, Finley and Jake Brearley all playing for Whitworth Valley and Bacup, Oliver plays for Burnley and Sam has also had trials with Manchester United’s Academy.

The next quarter final will take place after half-term and Sam said if the Norwich side won, their semi-final would be on neutral ground half way between the two schools.

He added: “The whole team is excited by the results that we have had. In Year 7 we only played 9-a-side, but in Year 8 we have had to field 11 players.

"Playing 11-a-side has been much better because we can play in our proper positions.

“It has given us a great morale boost and there is a buzz about the team. We are still taking it just one game at a time and that has to be our focus, but we all hope to get in the final and hopefully we can win.”