A fantastic afternoon of football was enjoyed by the Under 11 and 12s at Jubilee Park in Henley on Thames on Saturday 26th of June. The teams were formed from all levels of development, combining the age groups for the internal tournament, and teams were named from the last 16 of Euro 2021.

After the first set of four games, it was clear that the balance of the teams was going to make matches very competitive with only one team managing to scrape a win by a single goal and the remainder all draws. The second group games were equally competitive, but teams started to gel and formulate a stronger positional strategy between them. Parents that would not normally be involved as coaches had volunteered or pressed to take on a team and they were clearly enjoying this opportunity. The coach for Wales was noted for embracing the opportunity and galvanising her team and achieving some great results.

It was fantastic to see so many children, boys and girls from the many different schools in and around Henley playing together, communicating effectively like they see each other every day. The spirit at AFC Henley was evident everywhere around all the pitches that remain in exceptional condition and comments were received from many parents.

As the group stages came to an end, England from Group 1 and Denmark from Group 2 had edged to the top of their groups; both teams had encountered strong challenges from all their opposition, both coming back from behind to either draw or win games. The final games were teams from each group playing their respective finishing position in the opposite groups and saw Denmark and England come head-to-head with Denmark edging out a very strong England side.

The day was not about trophies, winners, or losers, but celebrating the club’s success through this extremely difficult and challenging time and providing the children with the opportunity to play football, see friends and continue with their development. All of these were achieved, all the children were winners and the enjoyment for the families summed up by the Grand Parents of Noah (U12s) and Raphie (U11s) Barron, “We're going to miss this for the next few months". We look forward to seeing you all again soon.