Calling all Sunday league teams across the country.
Your club could follow in the footsteps of Wayne Rooney and be at The FA Sunday Cup Final this season with The Football Association now accepting entries for Sunday League football’s premier knockout competition.
The Manchester United and England star returned to his Merseyside roots and crossed the blue-red divide last season to watch his family in action for Oyster Martyrs against Scots Grey at Anfield.
Rooney’s brother Graham even found the scoresheet with a close range header, but the day belonged to their Nottingham opponents who won the trophy with a thrilling 4-3 victory in extra time.
Speaking after their win, Scots Grey manager Steve Osborne said: “I’ve wanted this Cup for four years and it means so much to the lads. They’ve been a credit and the local papers are going to be able to write a bit more about us now.”
Scots Grey striker Allan Jeffries, who scored twice in extra time on a day to remember for everyone involved with the Notts Sunday League side, added: “Calves and legs were tight and everyone was a bit tired but it was a great team performance.
“We’ve been trying this for years. We got to the Quarter Final before but now we’ve really come on strong and won The Cup.
“It’s been amazing and great to see so many fans that have travelled to support us.”
The competition enables players from Sunday League who are not under written contract to pit their abilities against sides from across the country and once again The FA will be providing a fund of £60,000 to assist clubs in meeting their match and travel expenses.
Peter Clayton, Chairman of The FA Sunday Cup Committee, has seen the competition grow during his 36 years of involvement in Sunday football and explained: “It’s a fantastic competition and gives local players a chance to play in a national competition with The Final at a professional football stadium which is a real once in a lifetime occasion for those involved.
“The FA is delighted to support this competition and, once again, our prize fund will give invaluable financial assistance to clubs staging matches and taking part.”
Clayton added that in the last couple of seasons, some of the entry requirements around ground criteria have been relaxed to enable even more clubs to enter. “We’re casting our net far and wide across the country to encourage entries and there's no doubt that we’ll have yet another season to remember, hopefully from the few areas where we currently do not have any clubs taking part.”
Click here for more details.For further information on entering a team, please contact:-
Chris Darnell: 020 7745 4617 -
chris.darnell@thefa.com Scott Bolton: 020 7745 4583 -
scott.bolton@thefa.com It costs just £40 to enter the competition and the deadline date for entries is Saturday 1 August, 2009.