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Talented footballers from all corners of the borough gathered to celebrate the season at the Brent Schools’ FA’s annual awards.
The packed event was held at Capital City Academy to recognise the young stars who play for Brent and opened by the deputy head of the school, Rhoda Flindall.
Special guest, Councillor Krupesh Hirani , lead member for Public Health , Culture & Leisure congratulated the young stars tweeting “So proud of the Brent boys and girls and their footballing talent. I am honoured to join them for the awards event this evening. Some amazing work being done.”
The Association was founded in 1966 and is one of the most active in the South East of England. It has been recognised by The English Schools FA as a hub of football and now boasts eight Representative squads ranging from Under-9 to Under 15, including three girls’ teams.
In addition to the traditional awards for the ‘Golden Boot’ and ‘Player of the Season’, there were awards for some of the unsung heroes in the Brent teams such as Best Attitude, Most Improved and Best Team Contribution.
Over the years, the boys’ teams have produced a large number of professional players including Raheem Sterling, Stuart Pearce and Cyrille Regis. This season was the first time Brent Schools’ FA had players in both the English and Scottish FA Cup finals with Uche Ikpeazu playing for Hearts against Celtic and Raheem Sterling scoring a hat-trick for Manchester City against Watford.
However, the newer girls’ teams produced some of the highlights of the season. The newly-formed Under-9 girls team have produced some great results and the Under-12 girls were the most successful Brent Representative team. They were unbeaten in the Camden & Regents Park League on their way to winning the treble.
The Brent Schools’ FA squads train at Capital City Academy every Wednesday. There is a girls-only Wildcats session from 5:45pm to 6:45pm with the boys training from 6:45pm to 8:00pm.
Brent Chair Chris Ampofo commented: “It is great to see that the tradition of playing for Brent which started over 50 years ago is still going strong. It has been a great season and thanks to the commitment of the coaches and parents who work so hard volunteering to support the teams we hope to build on this success. It is great to see young players really enjoy their football”.
Photos by Stephen Toddington