English Schools' Football Association

2015-16's Winners of the DNC England Girls' Cup - St Edward's RC Primary School, Middlesborough

Back in November, the Gainsborough & District Primary Schools’ Sports Association staged their District Rounds of the Danone Nations’ Cup competition for Small Schools, School Teams and Girls’. With three strong teams competing in the Girls’ competition and six in the Schools’ Cup competitions, the local teams were excited to not only play, but to see if they were able to hold back Gainsborough Parish Church Primary, who have won both the Girls’ and Schools’ competitions consecutively for four years.

The competitions ran smoothly under floodlights and all teams were in tight contention, with teams neck and neck as the results were recorded.

Benjamin Adlard Primary School won the Small Schools’ competition with 9 points and unbelievably, Parish School took the Schools’ Cup title for the fifth consecutive year with 13 points! Parish Schools’ Director of Football, John Anderson said ‘To win the trophy for five years on the trot is a truly record breaking achievement, it is a real testament to the children that we have achieved this year on year, we are all so proud of the team.’

Gainsborough Parish Primary School Boys' Team Celebrating Their Win

In the girls’ competition, two of the three teams had received some coaching, leading up to the competition, from local Gainsborough Town Football Development Officer, Hannah Lane who had worked with the teams to help promote girls’ football. Emulating the Schools’ Team success – Parish Church Girls’ won both of their matches in the competition, scoring plenty of goals in the meantime! Delighted with the win, Parish player, Ellie-Mae Brown said ‘Our coaching with Hannah has been really fun and it was great to put those skills into action. I love my medal!’

Gainsborough Parish Primary School Girls' Team with their Winners Medals!

Following the two team successes, Parish Church School will now take both of their teams to Skegness on 4 February for the Lincolnshire rounds of the Danone Nations’ Cup competition where teams from across Lincolnshire will compete in the Schools’ Cup, Small Schools’, Girls’ and District finals – the winners of which will then progress to the Midlands Regional Rounds on the 18^th and 25^th of March at Nottingham University. John Anderson, Football Coach said ‘To have won both the Mixed and Girls English Schools 7 a side Gainsborough and District trophies for five years in a row is outstanding and a credit to the attitude and ability of the children involved.”

The Danone Nations Cup is the world’s biggest international football tournament for 10 to 12 year olds. 32 countries participate each year, making the dreams of some 2.5 million boys and girls come true though a unique and unforgettable experience. Having been hosted at Premier League Champion’s Leicester City’s ground last year, this year’s DNC England National Finals, to be held in May (venue TBC), will see us find and celebrate the top U11 teams in the country across the four respective competitions.

Team England representing at the DNC World Finals, Stade De France, Paris in October 2016

In the meantime, huge congratulations goes to Gainsborough Parish Church Primary School on their fantastic five-year strong achievement in both the Schools’ and Girls’ competitions and we wish them, and all the rest of our teams, the very best in both the County and Regional rounds this season!

If you would like to support the regional finals in your area, all dates can be found on our Diary Dates page of the ESFA website.