Bradford City DFC

Fans were back as SYACL Junior League action kicked off in Doncaster; and the sun shone on the Under 12’s & Under 16’s as the goals and tackles flew in.

The newly-formed Under 12 and Under 16 League’s made a fantastic start to their membership of the South Yorkshire Ability Counts League last Sunday, 3^rd October; and, for the first time in 19 months, the games were watched by a huge crowd of parents and carers who made their own fantastic contribution to a brilliant atmosphere.

The SYACL had managed to keep the Under 7 and Under 5 competitions running during the earlier part of 2021 by respecting the restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic, and it was great to see the players on the field after lockdown; but having the fans there on the first day of competition made the day all the more special, writes Margaret Gregory for www.syacl.com

The only downside to the afternoon was an unfortunate and accidental injury to Kai Hall, one of our players from Club Doncaster Titans, who we all wish a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back in action as soon as possible.

New League, new referee, Evan took the whistle for the Under-12 fixtures on Pitch 7 at the Goals Centre, with our good friend and referee’s secretary Sean Wright as the man in the middle for the Under-16 matches on Pitch 9. The SYACL used the middle pitch,8, as the holding area for spectators and players – this configuration had proved hugely successful during last season’s matches.

So, to the action; the opening Under-12 fixture saw Club Doncaster Titans edge a tight encounter with Hillsborough Hornets. Steph from Titans takes up the story. “A very close game was played between these two teams,” she told us. “It was end to end and a very entertaining game to watch. There were many chances for both teams and it was surprising that there were not more goals in this game. When the goal did arrive, it was scored by Jacob R and assisted by Jacob B.” 

Hornets were delighted by the performance of their young Orange team. Head coach Alex Whitehead told www.syacl.com. “This was the very first time that the Under 12’s playing a match against anyone – and they performed amazingly! They learned a lot and are already looking forward to their next League fixture.

Next up for Titans was a tough match with Bradford City Claret, but this time the Titans were on the wrong end of the result. “This was a fairly one-sided game,” Steph admitted. “Club Doncaster Titans played very well, battled hard and created some good chances of their own against an exceptionally good Bradford team. In the end the better team won the game.”

Titans third game of the afternoon saw them beat Sheffield FC Red in another Pitch 7 thriller. “This was another end-to-end game of football,” Steph told us. ”Club Doncaster Titans players played fantastically and really looked like a team, playing and working together. They all worked really hard and loved every minute of it. Again, it was surprising that there were not more goals in this game with the number of chances created by both teams. When the goals did arrive, they were scored by Jacob R and Jacob B and both were assisted by Kellie.”

At the end of the nine fixtures, Bradford City Claret topped the table with three wins out of three, closely followed by Bradford City Blue, who played out a tight drawn game with Sheffield Red to drop their only points of the day before wins over Hillsborough Hornets Orange and Bradford City Wildcats.

Sheffield Red took the three points with a win over Bradford Wildcats, who ended the day level with Hillsborough Hornets after just failing to pick up a win, but both sides contributed hugely to a great afternoon of Under-12 action.

After three fixtures each, standings are as follows: –

 Junior U12 Division

POS	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Bradford City FITC Disability U12 Claret	3	3	0	0	3	9
2	Bradford City FITC Disability U12 Blues	3	2	1	0	2	7
3	Club Doncaster Titans Ability Counts FC	3	2	0	1	1	6
4	Sheffield FC Youth U13 SFCD U-13s Red	3	1	1	1	0	4
5	Bradford City FITC Disability U12 Wildcats	3	0	0	3	-3	0
6	Hillsborough Hornets Disability FC U12 O	3	0	0	3	-3	0

  Over on Pitch 9, the longer, game-of two halves Under 16’s League kicked off with a narrow win for Club Doncaster Titans over Hillsborough Hornets Yellow. Hornets Alex Whitehead told us “Alex scored for Hornets in the first half with Coley (twice) and Lewis [one] in the second half as the Hornets just failed to snatch a point. The match finished 5-4 and the Hornets made a brilliant second half comeback. We narrowly missed out on a draw.”

Titans Coach, Martin Taylor, told us “Titans’ goals came from James Cota, with two – one a penalty – two from Devon Fordham and one from Levi Benson. Both teams played some lovely football in this, the first League match back and both teams were a bit nervous to start off with. It was a close fought game which the final score showed.”

Hornets Black got off to the best possible start with a win over Sheffield FC Blue. A penalty from Nathan saw Hornets Black lead at the break, and goals in the second half from Luke, Zack and an own goal clinched the win.

Coach Alex was delighted “A brilliant game from the Hornets, composed and calm throughout and used the boards to their advantage. Nathan stepped up to take the penalty for the team.”

Hornets Yellow got on the winning trail with a win over Bradford City Amber in their next game, with Luke and an own goal seeing Hornets ahead at half time, and Coley and Enrique doubled the score in the second period. This was no easy win, as Alex reflected. “This was a tough physical match with a few injuries on both teams. Leah took a nasty knock to the ribs but soldiered on and was a machine in defence.”

Hornets Black closed out their day with a defeat to Club Doncaster Titans, Luke scored for Hornets in the first half, but three Titans goals clinched the points. Coach Alex was philosophical in defeat. “It was a tough game against Doncaster,” he admitted, “Luke scored his second goal of the day, but we couldn’t hold them up. Alice and Nathan were sterling in defence.”

Titans’ Coach Martin Taylor told us that James Cota, with two, and Devon Fordham had scored the goals which clinched the three points.

“In the second match the U-16’s played in honour of their team mate Kai Hall who got injured in the first match,” Martin added. “There was lovely football played in this match too. In both games they all had the team spirit, and I would like to say well done and well played today to everyone involved and I am so proud of you all.”

“I would like to thank all the parents / carers for their support, too.”

After the first round of two fixtures each, it’s Titans Ability Counts who lead the way with two wins, with Bradford City Amber in joint second place with three points thanks to their win over Sheffield FC Blue. The two Hornets teams are also on three points, leaving brave Sheffield Blue hoping to take points in the next round of fixtures.

Juniors U16 Division

POS	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Club Doncaster Titans Ability Counts FC	2	2	0	0	2	6
2	Bradford City FITC Disability U16 Amber	2	1	0	1	0	3
3	Hillsborough Hornets Disability FC U16 Y	2	1	0	1	0	3
4	Hillsborough Hornets Disability FC U16 b	2	1	0	1	0	3
5	Sheffield FC Youth U16 SFCD Blue	2	0	0	2	-2	0

Overall though, the three Hornets teams had enjoyed a great start to life in the SYACL, as Coach Alex summed up. “An amazing day was had by all, and we are super proud of the all the players who wore their Hornets colours with pride. We had some tears from the parents who never thought this could happen for their kids. Win, lose or draw the Hornets did us ALL proud today.”

“We can’t wait for the next round of fixtures!”

All Bradford City DFC 4 junior teams at the South Yorkshire Ability Counts Junior League had a great day; with Bradford City DFC Under 16’s played 2 – won 1 – lost 1.

With a big mixture of abilities, and it being the first time playing together, the team did well on the day. losing to Hillsborough Hornets and beating Sheffield FC.

Star player on the day was Jonathan, who really struggled in the first game, but scored 2 great goals in the second.

The Bradford City DFC Under 12’s Blues played 3 games – won 2 – drew 1.

Sara, the coach for the Blues said, “great team work, great footy played and lots of empathy towards other teams and lots of great behaviour.”
Star player on the day was Callum who scored a couple of goals in his first ever competitive games.

The Bradford City DFC Under 12s Clarets played 3 – won 3.

The Clarets went top of the league and played really well with some great football.
Star player was Freddie who scored most of their goals for the team, with some Messi like skills.

The Bradford City DFC 12’s Wildcats played 3 – lost 3. 
Bev Dove, manager of the Wildcats said, “I just want to say thank you to all the girls in the Wildcats team at Doncaster.  It’s tough being the only all girls team in the League, but you gave everything you had, so so proud of you all.”
The highlight of the day was little Jessica scoring against the Blues at the end of the day.

Well done all the players and coaches with some great football played on a lovely sunny day for football.

And so say all of us. We’ll see our Junior teams back in action at the beginning of November; but next Sunday, attention turns to the 7-a-side League and a full afternoon of fixtures across three divisions at Concord Sports Centre, Shiregreen Lane, Sheffield.

The action starts at 1.30 pm, and you can stay in touch with the action on Twitter @SYorksACL or here at www.southyorkshireabilitycountsleague.com. In the meantime, if you have any features or pictures, why not send them to Margaret via the contact form on the Website.

Aston Swallownest had a good pre-season and all the lads and lasses are buzzing for the upcoming season.

We now have a 5-a-side team; and two 7-a-side teams. [one in the Premier League and one in Division 1.] Our club is growing all the time, so why not join us.

If anyone is looking for a team, please ring James Scally on 07955680651

Feel welcome to say hello to Jazmine Scally watching her first games of football.

On behalf of the Leader of Leeds City Council, Councillor James Lewis, we are delighted to inform you about an exciting event – Team Yorkshire The Homecoming!

Olympic and Paralympic heroes will be given a homecoming to remember with a major event at the Leeds First Direct Arena on October 10. Olympians and Paralympians will take to the stage to talk about their exploits in an event hosted by 2016 Olympic medallist Nile Wilson and sports broadcaster Tanya Arnold.

Athletes attending include Jess Learmonth, Jonny Brownlee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Jack Laugher MBE and Hannah Cockroft MBE among many others – with more athletes being confirmed daily.

Channel 4, who have just setup home in Leeds, are supporting the event – which will take place on Sunday October 10 from 3-5pm.

The event will include live entertainment including headline Yorkshire act, Starlights, along with Phoenix Dance, Yorkshire Prose live poetry and other fantastic acts.

Tickets are available to the public for just £5 per ticket (plus booking fee) which includes a donation to charity Sports Aid, an organisation that has supported so many of the Yorkshire athletes via www.firstdirectarena.com

Tickets are available from 9am Friday 24^th September.

A new team has joined our league and their coach Alex Whitehead, Head Coach, Hillsborough Hornets DTFC tells us all about them, but if you want to read more then visit their excellent website. www.hillsboroughhornets.co.uk.

  Tell us a little about the background to your club and players – how long have the teams been together, and where were they playing before? How many teams will you be entering?

We are the Hillsborough Hornets Disability Football Club; the club will have been running for 1 year in October. We have 48 kids who attend sessions on a Saturday morning, which is a big achievement for us. To say that in October 2020, we started with 5 kids, then Covid etc. We have kids with conditions ranging from Autism to Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy.

We welcome boys and girls to play for our team. Some of them used to play for Sheffield FC, but most of them have never played in this type of environment. We will be entering 1 team in the under 12’s League and 2 teams in the under 16’s League.

If you want to join us or need any more information, you can find it on our website: https://hillsboroughhornets.co.uk/

What are you looking forward to most about participating in the SYACL?

Having a league that cares about the kids and the teams involved; and hopefully helping the kids enjoy more than just training and giving them the that feeling of winning a League fixture!

Tell us what the spectators can look forward to from your teams. Are there any particular players we should be looking out for?

A togetherness, fun, and all involved, despite ability performance is what you’ll see from our guys. They play to win, but do it the right way by enjoying themselves first! All our players are people you should be looking out for, we don’t make it about one player or two we make it all about it being accessible and all about inclusion.

How has pre-season training gone so far? Have you been involved in any competitions over the summer weeks?

Pre-season is going great, the togetherness is really there to see, and we’ve been having some really fun session, loads of smiles and laughter.

We had a summer tournament in Killinghall, Harrogate where we finished runners up!

 Held on Tuesday 7^th September 2021 Via Zoom Video Call at 8pm

•            Roll Call @ 8:15pm – Chairman, Secretary, Covid Officer, Referee representative, Club representatives from Aston Swallownest, BartonInclusive, Bradford City DFC, Brunsmeer Awareness,  City Knights, Club Doncaster Titans, Derek Dooley FC, Doncaster Deaf Trust,Sheffield FC, Social Eyes, Spartans FC & Wheatley Wanderers SYACL FC

Absent –

•            New Disability Officer Chair introduced the new disability officer for Sheffield & Hallamshire FA, who told us of her plans for the role in the up-and-coming years. The FA are really pushing female football at the moment and that is where she will be pushing for higher numbers and possibly a female only disability league. There was also mention of maybe playing a cross county competition, as was tried before the pandemic. Overtures had also been made with professional football clubs across the county, asking them what they are doing to promote disability football and what their pathways are? The FA are pushing specific disability teams such as CP, visually impaired and blind football.

•            League Dates & Venues Chair checked that all representatives knew the dates for the upcoming season which have been sent out via texts and emails; everyone said they had received them. 7-a-side will be 2pm to 5pm at Concord Centre Sheffield & 5-a-side at Doncaster and Sheffield Goals 2pm to 5pm. He then discussed the County Cups Adult (for the 7-a-side teams) and Junior (for the 5-a-side teams). County Cup matches cost £30 entry fee, but clubs will likely have to pay costs towards matches, unlike previous seasons. These games will be played on the same day as the League games. We then discussed the format of the 5-a-side Leagues; there will be 4 Leagues of 5 teams. It was voted that League 2 teams will play a round robin of 4 x 10-minute games on the day, the other Leagues will be 2 x 20min games, plus any additional Cup games.

•            Referees Costs The costs of referees have risen for the first time in years; to cover these costs it will be £27 per team per match day for 7-a-side & £22 per team per match day for 5-a-side

•            Wearing of bibs Chair asked teams to let him know their team colours, so if there is any colour clash one team will be asked to wear bibs, secretary suggested all teams bring a set of bibs of alternative colours on the day.

•            Squad Lists Chair asked for all Clubs to send him their squad list, so he can check that all the players are on the Whole Game System and that players are not in various teams and that female players are not in the 7-a-side. Also, that all players have the correct proof of disability, usually PIP or DLA letter (doctors letters) The Whole Game System was discussed [the new registration system set up by the FA], there has been major issues with it since it was updated; but Chair said to keep trying to enter players, but any major problems let him/FA know.

•            Junior Section This season the SYACL will be running a junior league with an under 16’s & Under 12’s League. Chair has booked the venues and will arrange the fixtures, Bradford City DFC, Club Doncaster Titans, Hillsborough Hornets and Sheffield FC will be providing the teams this season but hopefully new clubs will enter in future seasons.   These fixtures will be the first Sunday of every month.

•            Media Department & Social Platforms The League’s Media & Social Platforms department try to give the League and its clubs maximum exposure to a wide audience.  Anyone visiting these sites can gain an insight to the clubs within the League and hopefully encourage more participants. Chair stressed we need to keep sending articles for the social media site, to keep interest for the league. It always seems to be the same clubs that send the articles; can a few of the teams that don’t send, please try send something to put on the website. A good news story or how your players enjoy disability football. Once the Leagues are up and running, can ALL teams send match reports (they don’t have to be kick by kick reports) just how you did, maybe someone played well or achieved something that they usually don’t? No worries about literacy as they can work wonders with a few sentences and a photo or two. It’s all about promoting the openness of the League and their players and clubs to the general public.

•            FA representative then told us that the FA are bringing in a 3-star award for any mainstream clubs that have adult, junior, boys, girls and now disability teams. The idea being that new clubs might be formed to play in our Leagues or some clubs might try to adopt’ teams that already exist. She also told us about a mental health course she is trying to run for disability clubs to raise awareness within the clubs; everyone said they would be interested in the course. The Flourish League was discussed alongside this topic.

• Fair Play Rule Covid officer reminded Clubs about the fair play rule which is; –                                                       In order to best reflect the importance of competition and in order to reduce the possibility of excessively one-sided and demoralising fixtures, the following rules will apply without exception and will be enforced by our match referees.

If a team establishes a three goal advantage at any stage in the match (i.e 3-0, 4-1, 5-2) , the match referee will invite the losing side to bring on additional players until the lead is reduced to a single goal. In 7-a-side fixtures, the losing side may bring on up to three more players, and in 5-a-side fixtures the losing side may bring on up to two additional players.

If the losing side has no additional players to bring on, the team with the three goal advantage will be restricted to two touches only per player in 7-a-side football and to three touches in 5-a-side football.

The match referees will use their discretion in enforcing the limit on the number of touches. This message needs to be sent to all coaches of all teams in the leagues, so there is no confusion on the day.

• Barton Inclusive FC thanked everyone who have accepted them into the league and have arranged friendlies such as the Spartans Tournament, Bradford City DFC, Sheffield FC & Club Doncaster Titans. They are really looking forward to the new season as are all of us!

Close of meeting – 9:35pm

Next meeting to be arranged once the League is underway.

Let’s make season 2021/2022 a great season, in Darren’s memory.

One minute silence and applause for Secretary Darren Warner, who passed away during Covid. RIP Darren.

We would like to thank SWFC and Wednesdayite for featuring our League in their matchday program and allowing us to republish the article.

Wednesdayite Column- Doncaster Rovers FC

Everyone associated with Wednesday extends a warmer-than-usual welcome back to Hillsborough for this afternoon’s League One local encounter with Doncaster Rovers. We also extend our deepest sympathies to the families who have lost loved ones over the last 18 months.

For the season ahead, the Wednesdayite matchday column plans to cover the buzzing Non-League, Ladies, Junior and Disability competitions – and the many fantastic volunteers – in and around our city, which is the true Home of Football.

It’s appropriate, then that today’s piece spotlights the South Yorkshire Ability Counts League, which features three Divisions of open-age 7-a-side footballers living with a range of disabilities, and three further Divisions of 5-a-side players living with mental ill-health or learning difficulties, including Autism.

The feature is particularly poignant today as Darren Warner, the SYACL Secretary and its key driver – alongside Darren’s friend and Chair Mike Stylianou – was also the founder of Club Doncaster Titans, which he set up so that his son, who has autism, and other boys and girls like him had a place to play football. Over time, the popularity of the Titans rocketed, further enhancing the chances for children and adults with disabilities or mental ill-health to play the game that we all love.

In 2019, Darren won the “Unsung Hero” award for the BBC Yorkshire region and was invited to the Sports Personality of the Year Award in Aberdeen, where he just missed the National Award.

Sadly, Darren died in January of this year, aged just forty-nine, after a period of prolonged ill -health; despite this, he remained a regular at SYACL matchdays as recently as the previous December. He leaves behind loving wife Sharon and sons Jordan and Cameron, and over three hundred footballers across six leagues and thirty-one teams who owe him a great debt and regard him as a True Titan of the game.

Rovers paid tribute to Darren ahead of their home game with Rochdale, and hundreds of families and friends paid their own socially-distanced tribute when the funeral cortege paused briefly outside the Keepmoat Stadium on its way to the Crematorium.

Darren’s was recently recognised posthumously as a Grassroots Football Coach of The Year by the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA.

In the meantime, the SYACL continues to grow under Mike’s leadership, and plans to add a junior division for the season ahead, offering even more playing opportunities.

The South Yorkshire Ability Counts League restarts in September. Seven-a-side and 5-a-side fixtures played alternately once per month, with participating teams from South and West Yorkshire, and from this season, North Lincolnshire.

You can read more about Darren, Mike, and the League at their excellent website www.southyorkshireabilitycountsleague.com or their Instagram or Twitter Accounts.

Enjoy the game.

Paul Holmes

Chair, Wednesdayite    

Up at Social eyes Rotherham the football training is underway; they have moved to a new training facility @ Kickabout Football Centre, Unit 1-2 Vantage Drive, Tinsley, Sheffield. S9 1BG.

If you visit their website http://www.socialeyesrotherham.co.uk and visit their daily blog page, you will see the great time they had yesterday during training. Now they are back, after the pandemic, it looks like they have their eyes firmly fixed on the top of the SYACL again.

All the other teams training shots will follow. Come back soon.

Sophie Bartup: “I believe in our players, and I look forward to cheering them on”

When the South Yorkshire Ability Counts League kicks off again in October, there will be two teams of welcome new faces, from the Humber area, making an appearance in our League competitions. Barton Athletic FC will be playing their football in what is expected to be a highly-competitive 7-a-side Championship Division and Inter Barton FC will play in Division One of the 5-a-side league.

We wanted to know a little more about our new friends and rivals, so our www.southyorkshireabilitycountsleague.com editor Margaret Gregory had an email chat with Sophie Bartup, who is a Sports Lecturer and the driving force behind Barton Inclusive Football Club.

Margaret: Sophie, welcome to the South Yorkshire Ability Counts League. Tell us a little about Barton Inclusive – how it started, the League you have been playing in, the progress you’ve made.

 Sophie: Thank you very much, and before we start, I’d like to say a big thank you to The South Yorkshire Ability Counts League, to Mike and to all the teams, players and volunteers who have made us feel extremely welcome.

 Barton Inclusive FC started after I moved permanently to the area in October 2018; I was keen to volunteer within the Ability Counts game, however at the time, there wasn’t any provision within the town. So, this led me to create BIFC. I actually just remember saying one day as I was sat at home ‘I’m going to create a club!’; this was in January 2019. I hosted a fundraiser in July 2019 and from September 2019, we started our sessions. We began with a session for inclusive football and one walking football session. We welcomed new players, volunteers and began to plan for our future, when the COVID lockdown was announced in March 2020. We stayed connected with our players via Zoom, and within the next 12-16 months, we started training at a new facility, introduced Wildcats to our club and continued to welcome new players for both our inclusive and walking sessions. Amongst all this, we delivered a range of initiatives as a club such as our ‘Liam Jinks Cup’, which will be hosted annually. The hard work that has gone into our club from everyone involved led to us being awarded the Lincolnshire FA ‘Club of the Year’ for the 2020/21 season; of which we are immensely proud. We now have over 70 players within our club, which continues to grow with two competitive Ability Counts teams.

 Margaret: How did you hear about the SYACL and what made you decide to join up with us?

 Sophie: Being a new club, we started to explore competitive playing opportunities for our players and did extensive research within our region; to develop our understanding of the networks and structures in place, to varying levels of engagement. We are located in quite a unique position in North Lincolnshire, with many of our players traveling from surrounding areas and counties. After initial conversations with SYACL representatives, and consultation with our players and volunteers, we made the decision that we were confident that SYACL would provide our players with high quality regular competitive football.

 Margaret: How has your pre-season training gone?

Sophie: It’s been very positive for us, our players and our coaches. Our Inter Barton FC team entered the Spartans FC tournament in Sheffield, of which they won their division. I was there that day to support our team, and I was very impressed with the event, the authenticity of the environment and how each team and their managers supported each other. Following this, I drove straight to Bradford to support our Barton Athletic FC team; in what was an extremely competitive set of matches.

 In addition to this, both of our teams have just returned from an event with Sheffield DFC at the Concord sports centre on Sunday. This gave us another opportunity to put into practise what we have been working on in training. I have to say a big thank you to Kevin of Sheffield  for hosting us.

 Prior to their first league fixture, Inter Barton FC will be heading to Doncaster to play their women’s team, which I am sure will be a valuable experience for our players.

 Margaret: What are you most looking forward to when SYACL competition starts?

Sophie: Definitely for our players, they’re so excited to play league football. We have players such as Zak and Sean from Barton Athletic FC who came to our very first training session and will be experiencing their first competitive match representing BIFC. I am excited for our coaches Richard and James who have worked so hard with their players. We know we have to travel, and this would likely be the case wherever we played, however we have enjoyed our trips so far, getting the bus together and building momentum as we arrive at new places. Personally, I am just so grateful to everyone that has joined us on this journey, we’re dedicated to driving forward to reach a more equal and sustainable pathway for our players, and also for future coaches, referees, and volunteers.

Margaret: What should we be looking out for from your teams?

Sophie: A few months ago, I would have said we have two groups of great players and exceptional people. The more they have trained with each other and played together, our coaches are starting to see how they’re beginning to work more as a team, in cohesion with each other. Both our teams are extremely hard working and competitive. Through our pre-season, we know the quality of what exists within the League, and we know that we will need to turn up and prepare professionally in order to compete. Although this will be our first time of entering into a League, I know our players are proud to wear the badge and will want to do everyone connected with the club proud. I believe in them and will look forward to attending their matches and cheering them on.

 And before we finish, again I’d like to thank SYACL for their support and guidance and genuine commitment to welcoming us into their community. The standard of service we have received has been exceptional.

www.syacl.com would like to thank Sophie and all at Barton Inclusive FC and we wish them every success in the season to come.

 Check back at our website for our forthcoming match days, when you can see Barton – and all our fantastic teams – back in competitive action.