Castle Combe Colts welcomed nearly 200 teams from across the West Country and beyond as the club’s ever-popular summer tournament once again showcased all that is great about the grassroots game in England.

The 1,500 youth footballers on show ranged in age from the Colts’ youngest members, the under-6s MiniKickers, right through to the under-18s, who raised the curtain on the three-day festival on Friday evening alongside an inaugural competition for under-15s girls that was supported by six clubs from Wiltshire and Bristol.

Respect and sportsmanship were two primary themes of the weekend and the home club’s under-8s led by example as their Blacks team picked up one of the two fair play awards on offer on Saturday.
Colts chairman David Lewis said: “We are determined to see our tournament played in a good spirit and thank all of the participating clubs for making sure that tradition was maintained once again this year.

“Win, lose or draw, the fact we are involved in a sport we all love while upholding the values promoted by the FA’s Respect guidelines should make us all proud. We provide these events for the enjoyment of our children and we must never forget this.
“We hope that many friendships have been formed throughout the weekend and that all of our visitors, old and new, continue to consider us a tournament worth attending in future years.”

Mike Cook and Jo Hughes oversaw the organisation of the tournament and were assisted across the weekend by the club’s tireless committee members and a host of parent volunteers, who helped man the control tower, park cars and serve hundreds of beefburgers, hot dogs and other refreshments. The 450 matches that packed out the programme were expertly officiated by Julian Sattin’s team of enthusiastic referees.

Lewis was quick to thank them all for their respective contributions to what he called a “rich experience”, together with the invaluable support provided by Wavin Ltd, By Brook School, Chippenham Lions Club, Practical Van Hire, Superior Printing, Wiltshire Wood Recycling, Colin Ward and the Lysley Family.

ROLL OF HONOUR

Under-7 Fair play: Derry Hill Firestorm
Under-8 Fair play: Castle Combe Colts Blacks
Under-9: FC Chippenham Warriors 0 Bath City White 2
Under-10: FC Calne 1 Bishops Cannings A 3
Under-11: Bath City Youth 0 Trowbridge Town Raiders 0 (Bath win on pens)
Under-12: Trowbridge Town Stripes 0 Harwell and Hendred Youth 3
Under-13: Liden Community Green 3 Liden Community White 1
Under-14: Northside Athletic A 1 Melksham Town Tornadoes 1 (Melksham win on pens)
Under-15 Girls: Westbury Amazons Yellow 0 Melksham Town Yellow 1 (aet)
Under-15: Devizes Town A 0 FC Chippenham Youth 1
Under-16: FC Chippenham Youth 0 Melksham Town 1
Under-18: Melksham Town 2 Larkhall Athletic 1