HUTCHISON VALE ARE U13 "BRITISH CHAMPIONS"

HUTCHISON Vale under-13s can rightly claim to be the ‘Best Under-13 Youth Football Club in Britain’ after winning the first-ever Tesco British Cup in Bolton! The team from the famous Edinburgh nursery club proved to be the best youth club football side in Scotland recently, when lifting the Dunfermline Building Society Scottish Cup when beating Hillwood Boys Club (Glasgow) in the Scottish Youth Cup final in Airdrie – now this brilliant young Edinburgh side can rightly claim the title of ‘Best in Britain’! Vale, beaten only once this season, returned from Bolton in triumph after beating English representatives, Percival (London) 2-1 in the final of the first ever Tesco Cup in the Reebok Stadium. Ecstatic coach, Malcolm McKenzie, still trying to come to terms with his team’s success in a tournament that included teams from Ireland and Wales, spoke about this wonderful boost for the Hutchison Vale club and Scottish Youth Club Football, saying: “Best in Scotland, now ‘Best in Britain’, you can’t beat that!” Vale, however, will look back on a goal scored by Jack Verth in the last few seconds of their semi-final against Linfield, from Northern Ireland, as the one that set them up for this fabulous success. Verth scored with only 13secs left to play to square the game at 1-1and then went on to outshoot their Irish opponents 4-2 in a penalty decider. Chris McLeod, Jack Verth (again), Andy Togneri and Connor Devaney were spot on in the penalty shoot-out to set up a final clash against the team from north London. The tournament was spoiled by a terrible rainstorm in Lancashire that turned Bolton Wanderers pitch in to a mudbath, and the Vale coach added: “The state of the pitch dictated the way the games were played. You could not pass the ball in the wet conditions and our team did not get the chance to show how well they can play passing football. We went to beat Percival 2-1 in the final, with goals from Ryan Tennant and Chris McLeod (pen). We had fantastic support from the parents of the kids during the two games and it was a pity about the rain. Tesco were magnificent and each team were given a banner to put on their team bus. The trophy we won is wonderful, too, and it is a terrific achievement for Hutchison Vale club to be the first in Britain to win this trophy. I hope Tesco continue with this event as they are spending a lot of money on youth club football.”

The Tesco trophy was presented by John Barnes, ex Liverpool and England and the Ambassador for the Tesco Under-13 Cup commented:  "I am delighted for the boys of Hutchison Vale who deserved to win the tournament.  They played as a team and played some great one-touch football in very tricky conditions.  The Tesco Under-13 Cup is a great initiative and the grants that Tesco  have awarded to all the County, Area and Regional FAs participating in the tournament will help to grow football at grass roots level.” Debra Stones, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Tesco, added: "We are delighted to be sponsoring this grassroots initiative and are really pleased that so many boys (35.000 from the four national associations in Britain) have taken part.  The activity is one of our many initiatives to encourage children to be active and healthy."

This magnificent young Vale squad have the chance to add even more silverware to their impressive collection of trophies tomorrow night at Saughton Enclosure, where they will parade the Tesco Cup in front of the crowd at the final of the Belmont Vauxhall Cup against Edinburgh City – the only side that has beaten Hutchison Vale this season. The kick-off for that game is at 6.30pm. Then, on Friday night at the same venue, Vale take on Leith Athletic in the final of the Lothian Buses Cup. Kick off 7.00pm. That is followed on Sunday, with an appearance in the final of the City Financial Edinburgh Eastern Region Cup final at Hallhill in Dunbar. Their opponents in this event, the most prestigious in the Eastern Region Youth FA each season, are Tynecastle East. The game is due to start at 11.00am and it will also be of special interest to Andrew Ramage, the principal officer at the Edinburgh-based financial company that sponsors all seven finals at Hallhill over the weekend. Andrew’s son, Jack, plays for Tynecastle East.

All seven finals at this magnificent venue are played in the lovely Dunbar United stadium at Hallhill. Even more significant, however, are the modern, civilised and hygienic facilities on offer at the Dunbar complex, with a superb lounge area for everyone to use, along with excellent toilet facilities and, of course, the wonderful pitch at Hallhill for the players to show how good they can be, given a proper football pitch to play on. Something that is, sadly, missing in the ‘Festival Capital of the World’ – Edinburgh! Full list of finals, at what I consider to be the most civilised football facility in Scotland, Hallhill:

Saturday, May 27: Under-14 - Tynecastle FC v Cavalry Park Colts (10.30am); Under 17 - Currie Star v Easthouses BC (12.15pm); Under-19 – Hutchison Vale v Edina Hibs (2.30pm); Under-21 – Bonnyrigg Rose v North Merchiston (4.45pm).

Sunday, May 28: Under-13 - Tynecastle FC East v Hutchison Vale BC (11.00am); Under 15 - Musselburgh Windsor v Hutchison Vale BC (12.45pm); Under 16 - Broxburn Athletic Colts v Musselburgh Windsor (2.30pm).

*All games are played to a finish, with extra time and penalties if required to get a result!