Sprowston Girls revel in FA Peoples Cup success
The FA People's Cup is a nationwide competition that saw 40,000-plus players sign up across a number of different categories - making it the biggest and best five-a-side competition this country has ever seen.
The Finals took place at the PlayFootball in Birmingham, with potential winners having the chance to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity - receiving their trophies on the pitch at Wembley Stadium during The Emirates FA Cup Final.
Sprowston blitzed the group stages, winning four and losing just one game, meaning that the Norwich-based side finished second in their group. A 4-2 win in the semi-finals against Washington AFC saw Sprowston reach the Final.
That result saw Sprowston face Plymouth in the final, who won their respective semi-final with an incredible 15-14 win on penalties!
Plymouth took the lead with a stunning strike that found the top right hand corner, however Sprowston instantly replied just a minute later. A flowing move from the back saw Sprowston then take the lead, and they didn’t stop there. Rebecca Russell got her second goal of the game as she drilled into the bottom right hand corner before completing her hat trick with a similar finish, wriggling past her defender before slotting in the same corner.
Sprowston U16 Girls’ manager Adrian Tink reflected on what was an incredible day:
“The whole competition has just been a wonderful experience, from the first round in Norwich to the regional final in Birmingham, we’ve gotten to test ourselves against different teams from across the country and have met people and players who share the same passion for girls’ football that we do.
The group games themselves were as fierce as you would expect from teams that have had to battle through two rounds. It was during these group games that we realised just how many friends, family, team mates, colleagues and people from Norfolk were following our progress on social media and were going to watch us live on the BBC Sport website – a truly overwhelming feeling of support, that you’re representing something far bigger than just yourselves. It’s difficult to imagine that feeling of responsibility as a 16 year old. Yet there they were as cool as you like, smiling and joking!”
WATCH highlights of Sprowston’s victory on the BBC Get Inspire page here:
