bedwell rangers fc

UNDER 16 GIRLS BECOME NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
 
Bedwell Rangers U16 Girls have continued their success in the Tesco Cup by winning the All England Finals which were held on Saturday at the Walkers Stadium home of Division One side Leicester City .

Playing as Southern Champions, the team managed by Steve Jones started the competition nervously against Manchester Utd Ladies who represented Lancashire . The Man Utd Ladies started well, but dogged defence from the Jones sisters ensured that Bedwell restricted the Man Utd side to only one chance when a deflected shot rebounded off the post. The score at half time was 0-0.

The second half saw Bedwell shake free their nerves and they dominated the second period, with striker Becky Day and winger Cally Cardines a constant threat to the United defence. Eventually the deadlock was broken when a long range strike from Becky Day looped over the United keeper. With six minutes to go, Bedwell held their lead for a place in the Final.

Playing the last game of an extremely long day Bedwell were up against St Nicholas Youth from Gloucestershire. With the experience of their semi final fully behind them, Bedwell dominated the match from start to finish and look the lead after 38 seconds with Day on the score sheet again tapping in after an accurate corner was not cleared by the St Nicholas defence.

Bedwell continued to dominate with midfielders Gunn and Payne constantly pushing forward. The pressure eventually told and Day struck her third goal of the tournament from the edge of the area. The second half continued in the same vein and Day missed her opportunity to complete her hat trick  missing from the penalty spot. More opportunities followed and with the exception of one attack, Bedwell finished the stronger team and run out easy 2-0 winners.

The girls received their trophy from England Legend goalkeeper Peter Shilton and he commented on the high standard of play that he had witnessed during the day. As a reward for scoring three goals, Becky Day was also named as the Under 16 striker of the tournament.

Manager Jones was overcome by the achievements of the girls and the parents that had travelled to Leicester were ecstatic with their performance on the day. Jones commented hopefully we have proved girls can play football and we are pleased that Bedwell have given the girls every opportunity, this puts girls football and Bedwell Rangers firmly on the map.

Chairman Gary Dempsey joined the enthusiastic and dedicated parents who had travelled to the Walker Stadium and he agreed with his manager that Bedwell Rangers will continue to support and develop girls football and as the club starts its 50^th season we and we proud of the structure that is in place that allows all players to mature in a safe and enjoyable atmosphere. The Under 16 girls are a unique squad and when so much bad is written about the youth of today it is reassuring to see that the girls are so dedicated to the club and as a group they have such a fantastic  team spirit, they are a real credit to the club.

However, it is said to think that this squad will now be disbanded at the end of the season due to the appalling decision that has been made by the Football Association restricting girls in such a way that they can only play for FA Schools of Excellence as from next season. As a club we have spent considerable time nurturing these girls and teaching them loyalty to their junior club. Whilst we are aware that some of the girls have been training at FA Schools of Excellence and playing for Bedwell we are angered that no consultation has taken place with the clubs, this shows a complete lack of understanding of grass roots football. The parents of the girls that have been affected by this decision are absolutely livid and they have taken the time to write to FA and in short the answer they have received is ‘tough’ if you want your girls to progress then accept the decision.

Furthermore with a majority of our girls already attending the FA School of Excellence at Watford, we understand that Watford were only made aware of the decision at very short notice and as yet the only notification that we have received is a hastily arranged e-mail from Watford. I have already been informed by parents that they would love their daughters to continue to play for Bedwell but unfortunately we have not reached the school of excellence status. I now have managers reluctant to send any girls to trials at the schools of excellence in the knowledge that the girl would have to leave the club if they are successful. Naturally the club wants every girl to succeed and there are a number of girls in our under 16 squad who stand a very good chance of playing top flight ladies football and the last thing that we want to do is stand in their way, but when this ends up in the complete destruction of a single squad the FA need to realise that they have got it wrong. Unfortunately football is littered with a history of ill conceived ideas and in my opinion this is yet another one that will not benefit this football club.

Now that the U16 girls have been crowned English champions they will go onto to represent England at the National finals to be played at The City of Manchester stadium, Eastlands next Sunday May 18^th

Squad:  

1. Demi Hobson
2. Josie Green
3. Leanne Jones
4. Megan Jones
5. Holly Butrimas Gair
6. Terri Gittings
7. Kate Natkiel
8. Megan Wynne
9. Chloe Payne
10. Shanice O’Sullivan
11. Becky Day
12. Chloe Gunn
14. Cally Cardines
15. Nicole Hogan

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Bedwell Rangers FC would like to acknowledge and thank Stevenage Borough Council and Sports Stevenage for their generous donations towards the development of the Under 16 girls team.

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