Sylvia Gore Girls Football Finals!

The Sylvia Gore Girls Football League came to a thrilling conclusion on the 18th May as the top 9 teams competed in the Finals!

Over 20 schools and 200 girls have taken part in the North and South Leagues this past year, with the top 9 schools earning their place at the finals. The competition has been delivered in partnership with Volair and Knowsley Council to honour the legacy of Sylvia Gore, a former Knowsley resident who made a remarkable contribution to girls’ and women’s football in this country, and to inspire even more girls to pursue their dreams within football!

On hand to present the tournament shield was football pundit and former England international footballer Sue Smith who was herself coached by Sylvia as a youngster. She was joined by the Leader of Knowsley Council, Graham Morgan and members of Sylvia’s family. Also watching the talent on display was Everton FC’s Aurora Galli and Nathalie Bjorn.

Sue Smith commented:

“It was a real privilege to be invited along to this event today and to see so many young girls getting involved in football. There was some fantastic talent on show and I couldn’t be more pleased that this tournament is being held in honour of someone who has made such a positive contribution to the game and to encouraging girls and women to take up the sport.

Sylvia Gore was my first football manager and someone I became lucky enough to call a good friend. I feel incredibly honoured to have known her personally and had the opportunity to be inspired by her passion and determination. She was a huge inspiration to me and I hope that her story will do the same for many of the girls here today too.”

A fantastic afternoon of football saw some close games in the group stages, before a thrilling knockout stage provided some big shocks with the two teams that topped their groups with unbeaten records both being eliminated on penalties in the quarter finals and semi finals respectively.

Cronton CE and Plantation eventually progressed to the final, where a tight encounter could only be separated by penalties with Plantation claiming the trophy!

Mr Sanders from Plantation Primary School in Halewood said:

“This tournament has been an amazing experience for all the girls involved and something that they won’t forget. Our team had never played together before and to watch the girls develop and grow as footballers and team players over the past few months has been great. I am certain this experience will have inspired lots of them to continue playing football and who knows, we might have a future England Lioness here with us today. How fantastic would that be?”

Congratulations to Plantation and a big thank you to all schools involved throughout the year, keep an eye on our website for information and dates for next year’s Sylvia Gore Girls Football Leagues!