Albion Goldstone girls victorious in national cup final
The girls from Goldstone Primary School brought a trophy back to Sussex after winning a national Premier League tournament while representing the Albion.
Year 6 girls from Goldstone Primary in Hove travelled up to Leeds United’s Elland Road to take part in the Premier League Primary Stars U11 Nationals Girls Football Tournament earlier this week.
They went through the entire tournament unbeaten, conceding just one goal across all of their fixtures as they played schools representing QPR, Bolton, and AFC Wimbledon.
The Albion girls then faced a team representing Manchester United in the final; they won 1-0 to secure the trophy and cap off an extraordinary tournament.
Two teams from Maidenbower Junior School in Crawley also represented Albion at different Premier League tournaments: Maidenbower’s mixed team reached their semi-final, while their girls team got all the way to the final.
Matt Dorn, CEO at Albion in the Community, was delighted to see the girls from Goldstone finish as winners: “Everyone at AITC is so proud of what the Goldstone team has achieved. They’ve really shown everyone what they can do.
“The teams representing us from both Maidenbower and Goldstone have shown skill, determination, and fair play. We are lucky to have such wonderful schools representing us.
“The Premier League Primary Stars programme provides so many opportunities for young people, and this national tournament is one such example.”
The Goldstone team made it to the tournament after qualifying through their regional finals, giving them the chance to play on a Premier League-quality pitch at Elland Road.
There were 10 regional finals, with dozens of schools across the country taking part, but Goldstone overcame them all to finish as winners.
The U11 National Girls Football Tournament is one of the competition elements of the Premier League Primary Stars programme.
Launched in 2017 and available to every primary school in England and Wales, Premier League Primary Stars uses the appeal of football to help children to be active and develop essential life skills.
Premier League Head of Community, Nick Perchard, said: “The Premier League Primary Stars U11 National Girls Football Tournament creates an amazing opportunity for girls from across England and Wales to come together and represent their professional football clubs.
“The regional events help to get more girls into football and bring young people together from diverse backgrounds.”
Premier League Primary Stars enables teachers to use resources across English, Maths, PE and PSHE, to support children to develop skills and values that are crucial to success in later life. Currently 103 professional football clubs from across the leagues run in-classroom Premier League Primary Stars sessions in local partner schools.
This article was written when our name was Albion in the Community. As of August 1 2023, we are the Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation.