South London Schools F.A.
Playing for fun in the pursuit of excellence
Building on Success. 2009/10
Representative Teams
This was a very successful season in which our teams contested 7 major finals. Despite the disappointments in going out of the National competitions the teams played outstandingly well to make 3 London Schools Finals, 2 S E England Finals,1 County Final and a North/South of the River Final. Unfortunately amid much expectation we fell short in all but one final.
The under 12's lost 1-0 to Islington and Camden in their London Schools Final. Then the under 13's lost 3-2 to Blackheath in their London Final. As the scores suggest both matches were very close affairs. There was some comfort when the under 14's took on Islington and Camden at the Chelsea Training Ground. They over whelmed their opponents 6-0 playing some outstanding football.
The under 14's London Schools Champions
They became the first South London Secondary representative team to win a London trophy for 7 years.
S E England Competitions.
For the first time we entered these competitions. We made two finals. Our under 13's again met Blackheath and lost by the odd goal. The under 14's also lost 1-0 to Blackheath despite dominating most of their final.
The Primary team had a good season making the Inner London County Kay Final and the Finch Cup Final. Although they lost both finals they gained two sets of medals. In their annual visit to the Bollzeele International Tournament in France they won an impressive trophy. Six of the team played for Inner London.
Captain Deon Moore with the Bollzeele Trophy
In the season our players won nearly 120 medals which in any terms is a good result.
Congratulations should be given to the team managers who coached the teams to these successes.
District Competitions
Here are the results:
Five a sides: Under 12's boys and girls champions
Walworth Academy defeated St Thomas the Apostle 3-2 in the final
Kingsdale School defeated Walworth Academy 4-2 in the final
Lost in the SE England Final
Kingsdale girls 5 a sde team
Under 11's Magazine Cup
Francesca Cabrini defated Sunnyhill 5-1
Under 12's Fred Newton Trophy
Kingsdale defeated Ernest Bevin 4-2 after extra time
Under 13's Benzie Shield
Bishop Thomas Grant won the league
Under 14's Riches Shield
Globe Academy 3 London Nautical 2
Under 15's S E London Shield
Bishop Thomas Grant defeated Peckham
Academy 5-2
Kingsdale under 12's team
Under 16's Eastern Trophy
Globe Academy defeated Walworth Academy 6-5 on penalties after a 2-2 draw
Under 19's Arthur Barnes Trophy
St Francis Xavier defeated Peckham Academy 9-0
Bishop Thomas Grant Under 15's
Gradually we have made progress towards giving the schools in our district good competitions and well run representative teams. This has been due to the commitment of a small group of teachers. In the year ahead we hope to expand our activities but that will depend on how many teachers are willing to give of their time to our activities.
The last two season we have been playing for fun and reaching towards and often achieving excellence. We aim to continue to do this in the years ahead.
Stephen Underwood
Hon Secretary
Season 2010/11
This has been another season with outstanding success. We completed our own competitions. To see the results please go to the competition page.
Most of our representative teams experience a degree of success.
The Primary Team
In two out of the three major competitions they played in they did well.
They developed into an outstanding team that was able to compete on equal terms with the very best primary teams in London.
In the Inner London Kay Trophy they qualified for the semi final. Playing Tower Hamlets they drew 3-3. It was an exciting match that neither team deserved to lose. Unfortunately they lost 5-6 on penalties.
They won the South of the River League in the Finch Cup and met Harrrow ,the North of the River league winners, in the final. They lost 1-2 to a last minute goal in a close high quality match.
They went to France and won the Arneke International
under13 Tournament winning the final 1-0. Strengthened by the inclusion of two under 12 district players they overcame good teams older than themselves. It was an outstanding achivement.
The under 12's Team
This team had a wonderful season. They won two of the major competitions they took part in. In the other they lost in the final. In the Pears Trophy London Schools final they defeated Hackney and Tower Hamlets 3-2.
Hackney and Tower Hamlet Tournament The South East England Final
They won this invitation tournament by continuing to play outstanding passing football.
They lost just one match in the whole season.
A weakened team played Blackheath in this final. It was 3-3 with 10 minutes to go. Unfortunately a key defender was badly injured and the defence fell apart and they lost 3-7.
The under 13's Team
This team conscentrated on the National Trophy
competition. They battled their way to the semi final
defeating Hackney and Tower Hamlets 3-2
in the quarter final.
In the semi final they travelled to Southampton.
Unfortunately they lost to a disputed penalty 1-0.
This was a fantastic achievement to reach a National
semi final.
quarter final goal scorers
The under 14's team
This was a quiet season for this team. They were conscentrating on preparing for next seasons National Trophy competiton. Unfortunately they did not progress to the final stages of any competiton.
The under 15's team
This team were a fantastic group of players. They progressed to the semi final of the National Trophy playing passing fotball of the highest standard.
South London make ESFA Semi finals again in 2011
The under 15 team travelled to Histon F.C. to play Cambridge schools in the quarter final of the under 15 National Trophy. In an exciting match they won 3-2.
The semi final
It was played at Chelsea's Training Ground against Decorum. An early defensive error led to them conceding the first goal despite dominating play.
They equalised and totally outplayed Decorum who rarely were able to get out of their half. It took an outstanding display by the Decorum goal keeper to keep the score at 1-1. A crucial decision by the officials influenced the result of this match. South London appeared to score a goal that both management teams thought went into the back of the net and came out again. Unfortunately the officials decided the ball had not crossed the line. The match went to penalties. Ironically the best player on the field missed his penalty and Decorum won 5-4 on penalties.
This team as under 13's lost on penalties in the National Trophy semi final. It was disappointing for them to lose a semi final again when they outplayed the other team so comprehensively. They deserved to win the National. Decorum won the final 2-1.
They are one of the best teams to represent South London
The under 16's team
This team only had two matches and won one and lost one.
The French Tournaments
Zegerscappell under 15's International Tournament
An under 14/15 team played in this 16 team competition.
Teams from France, Holland, Belguim,Germany and
Luxembourg took part. They were undefeated and finished in 5th place. It was a good achievement.
They played excellent football and returned with a trophy.
Bollezeele under 13 International Tournament
An under 12/13 team played in a high quality competition.
They won all their matches to make
the final which was watched by a large crowd. They lost in the final 1-2 in controversial circumstances.
They left the field to the cheers of the other
teams and crowd who chanted
'South London the best team.'
In a season when we celebrated the 125th year birthday we did manage to give schools and our represenative teams another exciting year of activities. This was once again due to a commited group of teachers who deserve a lot of praise for their efforts. We played for fun and in many cases achieved excellence.
Season 2011/12
Our success in previous seasons meant that we felt that improving on results would be very difficult. Once you have played in 4 National semi finals in such a brief period of time you become the team to beat. We expected a dip in our fortunes. We however were in for a surprise.
It has been a struggle this season to field our best teams. Pressures fron those working within professional clubs have stopped some of our best players being available for some of our matches. We have even lost outstanding players to the newly FA backed ' Professional Clubs Academy bases'within selected schools who are outside our district.
The primary team
This was an initially a disappointing season. In both the county competitions and the London Cup they failed to qualify for the later stages. It was decided after Christmas to reform the team. We were able to add some outstanding players to the squad. This turned around the season. In the Finch Trophy which involves 14 districts throughout London they found success.They won the South of the River League. This meant they had to play Thurrock the North of the River Laegue winners in the final. The team travelled to Thurrock for this match. It was a close affair that was decided in the last 10 minutes when South London threw caution to the wind and conceded two late goals losing 3-0. Thurrock were the undefeated All London and Essex Champions.
Management team: Shuhal Ahmed, Dan Doyle and Stephen Underwood
The under 12's
This was a very successful year. There was a large group of very good players. The team won the London Schools Pears Trophy defeating Waltham Forest 5-3 in the final. The only match they lost was in the SE England Patrick Haigh competition.
Manager: Dean Heasman supported by
Shuhal Ahmed and Stephen Underwood
Below the under 12's team
The under 13's
This turned out to be an exceptional year for this team. In the English Schools Trophy Competition they made the final.
The Final was played at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park Ground. It was our first trophy final for 25 years.
It was against Liverpool. Both teams' defences were on top for most of the game. A goalkeeping error presented Liverpool with a rare shooting opportunity from which they scored . With 10 miutes to go it became clear that without changes Liverpool were going to to win 1-0. South London gambled going to a 3 man defence. It did give them an attacking boost but made them vulnerable to the counter attack. This happened and Liverpool scored two break away goals one in the last minute. They won 3-0 but as the Liverpool Vice Chairman commented' this was a very close game that either team could have won'.
Luton Schools 12-0
Redbridge 2-0
Brighton & Hove 2-1
Croydon 2-0
Coventry 3-0
North Somerset 3-0
Team: Emmanuel Idem, Edrit Dobraji, Adekundle Oyewole, Mothibi Penn-Kekana, Paul Kalambayi, Edson Oliveira, Cassien Thomas, Ephron Jardell Mason-Clark, Abou Solaku, Kayne Diedrick-Roberts, Tom Singhgolden, Fabian Thomas, Kimathi Akoto, Malik Onwugbonu, Deon Moore, Cameron Anderson, Tylet Anderson.
Managers: Richard Lansiquot,Michael Carnegie. coach: Shuhal Ahmed.
The team were unfortunate to lose in the semi final of the London Schools competition.
Under 14's
This team lost narrowly in both the S E England and London Schools semi finals. Despite the negative influences of some profesional clubs this remains talented group of players. They could do well in next years competitions.
Manager: Seabert Jones
Under 15's
They managed to get to the 3rd round of the English Schools Trophy. They were defeated by the odd goal away to Chelmsford. In the London Schools Corinthian Shield Final they defeated Croydon 5-2. Derrick Foster and his team achieved a long over due success in this competition. South London have won the shield more than any other district but it is many years since we last did so. It is he oldest schools trophy first played for in 1893. Luke Saggers scored a hatrick in the final.
Manager: Derrick Foster
Under 16's
The pressure of school exams influenced this age group. They had just one match which they lost narrowly.
Managers: Osman Ali and Adan Tabad.
International Tournaments
We were invited to send two teams to Northern France to take part in tournaments. An under 14/15 Team went to Zeggerscappel. This year they were not as successful as in previous years. Despite this they played well and had a good time returning with a trophy.
An under 12/13 team took part in the
Bollezelle tournament and played outstandingly well. They lost one match which was influenced by some very poor decisions by local officials. Despite this they finished fifth out of sixteen teams. It was recognised that they were one of the top two teams in the competition. They were the team that could have given the St Omer winning team a close match.
Once again we had a successful season. This was again due to the commitment and enthusiasm of a group of teachers who ran competitions and teams. We did play for fun and in some cases achieved excellence.
What does concerning us is that our funding from sporting bodies is very small. We had to rely on funds raised many years ago. This source is running out. How long we can continue to provide our current services to schools does depend on funding and sponsorship.If this does comes our way we are confident we can continue and improve next season.
Stephen Underwood
Hon Secretary
For last seasons schools competition results go to our competitions page.