Brazil lift the World Cup – Shropshire-style

The hosts kicked off the month-long soccer spectacular against Croatia last night, unaware that a school team in Shropshire had already picked up a trophy in their name.

The Shropshire Schools and Colleges FA's finals night took on a World Cup theme to coincide with the main event in Brazil.

And – in what could prove to be a fitting omen for the main event – the trophy was lifted by pupils from Coleham School who were representing Brazil in the tournament at Shrewsbury Sports Village.

The finals night is the culmination of the SSCFA's competitions throughout the year and saw pupils from primary schools across the county battle it out for honours.

Each school was assigned a World Cup country to represent.

It was another real life front runner, Holland, that won the girls' competition – otherwise known as the youngsters from Trinity Primary School in Ford, near Shrewsbury.

In all, eight boys' teams and four girls' teams competed in the finals at the sports village. Presentations at the event were made by guests of honour, all of whom are now playing top class football after starting their careers with Shropshire schools – Wolves midfielder Jack Price and international goalkeeping trio Charlotte Edmunds (Wales under-19s and Thomas Telford School), Harry Lewis (England under-16s, Shrewsbury Town and Meole Brace School) and Callum Burton (England under-19s, Shrewsbury Town and Adams Grammar School.

Jo Jones and Martin James of sponsors Greenhous presented medals to the tournament's young referees, and Peter Guy, advertising director of the Shropshire Star, presented the special guests with engraved glassware to commemorate the occasion.

The main sponsors were the Shropshire Star and Greenhous, who sponsor of the Shropshire Primary Schools Federation Centre football programme. The ribbons on the medals of each team competing corresponded to the national colours of the participating countries, an idea prompted by staff at the Shropshire Trophy Centre.

Lisa Sandford, general secretary of SSCFA, said: "We had a wonderful evening, perfect weather and it was clear from all those present that the event was thoroughly enjoyed.

"We are now looking forward to the main event in Brazil.

"A big thank-you to the Shropshire Star for continuing to support the work of the association."

Gareth Jones, teacher and coach at St George's Primary School in Shrewsbury, who played as Portugal, said: "It has been a really great day and a lot of schools have competed and attended.

"In the week leading up the kids were really excited and it is all they talked about.

"It's been perfect weather and has really topped off the football season."

Everywhere you looked you could see youngsters, across three pitches, passing, crossing, tackling and scoring some superb goals.

Claire Dodd, from Copthorne in Shrewsbury, was cheering on her 11-year-old son Lewis Beamond, who is a pupil at St George's School.

"This is a great event for the kids," she said.

"My son loves playing football and it is great for him to be able to take part in an event like this through the school.

"It's well organised and it's not just the kids that have a good time playing, we parents have fun watching too."

Alfie Franklin, 11, is captain of the Greenfields Primary School, who were Ghana in the competition.

He said: "I have really enjoyed it, we have played some really good football.

"I'm looking forward to the World Cup and playing in this has made me even more excited."

Russell Williams, parent/coach with the Oakmeadow Primary School "Germany" team, said: "This has been an exciting event for the kids. They have been so excited all week on the build-up and it is competitive.

"Everyone wants to win, but more importantly the kids have been having fun and that is what it is all about."

Mum Karen White was watching her 11-year-old daughter from the sidelines as she played for Greenfields Primary School.

She said: "They have had to play a lot of games got get to these semi-finals and it is good for them to be able to play in this competition.

"The kids have loved it, it has been really good, and there are lots of people here." Stuart Barker from Bayston Hill said: "My 11-year-old daughter Victoria is playing and I always watch her play football.

"It has been really great exercise and fun for the kids.

"It is great for them to actually be able to get out and play football and not just sit and play it on the computer."

Many current professional stars started their careers playing in Shropshire schools' competitions, and Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart – preparing to play in his first World Cup finals game against Italy tomorrow – is just one of 25 former county players now plying their trade in professional football, proving to the youngsters who take part in the SSCFA competitions and who represent their district and county that it is possible to succeed at the highest level.

Hart, a former pupil of Meole Brace School, is a patron of the association.

Current stars Jack Price, who plays for Wolves, and junior international keepers Charlotte Edmunds, Harry Lewis and Callum Burton joined parents and teachers to enjoy the football action and the sunshine at the sports village on Wednesday.

They also helped out with presenting the medals to the winning teams.

There was excitement in the girls' under-11 semi-finals, which both finished with penalty shoot-outs.

Greenfields, who were representing Russia, beat fellow Shrewsbury side St George's (Portugal) while Trinity School from Ford, representing Holland, beat the girls from Belvidere, who were representing Chile.

In the final it was Trinity who lifted the cup after a 1-0 win over Greenfields.

There were more penalty shoot-outs in the the boys' matches, with Coleham beating Telford side Redhill and St George's winning through against Meole Brace.

In the final, again decided by penalties, Coleham – representing World Cup favourites Brazil – lifted the trophy.

For the earlier rounds, the eight boys' teams played in round robin groups on two separate pitches, while the girls' competition was two straight semi finals and a final.

Results:

Boys' group 1: Oakmeadow (Germany) 0 Meole Brace (USA) 1, Redhill (Honduras) 1 St Lawrence (Costa Rica) 0, Oakmeadow 0 Redhill 1, Meole Brace 0 St Lawrence 0, Oakmeadow 0 St Lawrence 0, Meole Brace 0 Redhill 2

Boys' group 2: Coleham (Brazil) 0 Oxon (Switzerland) 0, St George's (Iran) 1 Greenfields (Ghana) 0, Coleham 0 St George's 0, Oxon 1 Greenfields 0, Coleham 1 Greenfields 0, Oxon 0 St George's 0

Semi-finals: Redhill 0 Coleham 0 (3-4 penalties), St George's 0 Meole Brace 0 (2-1 penalties).

Final: Coleham 0 St George's 0 (5-4 penalties)

Girls: Trinity (Holland) 0 St George's (Portugal) 0, Greenfields (Russia) 0 Belvidere (Chile) 0, Trinity 0 Greenfields 0, St George's 0 Belvidere 0, Trinity 1 Belvidere 0, St George's 0 Greenfields 2

Semi finals: Greenfields 0 St George's 0 (5-4 penalties), Trinity 0 Belvidere 0 (4-3 penalties)

Final: Greenfields 0 Trinity 1