Telford and Wrekin girls power on the way to national finals
Girl footballers from Telford and Wrekin have netted a place in national finals – at the very first attempt.
It's the first time that T&W have entered an under-11 girls side for the English Schools FA competition.
They only found out that they could do so some three weeks before the regional finals.
But the girls sailed through the tournament at West Bromwich Albion Academy, winning five of their six matches and drawing the other 0-0.
T&W scored 23 goals, didn't concede at all and now march on to the national finals, at a date and venue to be fixed early next year.
Richard Thorpe, vice-chairman of Telford and Wrekin Schools and Colleges Football Association, reckoned one training session was all it took to convince officials that the primary school girls had talent.
''We are extremely proud of the team and are very excited about taking the girls to the national stages," he said.
"We only found out three weeks ago that we were able to enter a team in this year's ESFA competition.
"But after the first training session we were confident our girls would be able to compete with the best teams in the Midlands."
Head coach Lee James, from Telford's Grange Park Primary, added: "We are delighted to have made history by taking the first ever TWSFA Under-11 girls team to the ESFA national finals.
"The girls have been an absolute pleasure to coach in the short time we have had before the tournament and they fully deserved to win."
